Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said his opponent, Nikki Haley, would not be able to garner enough support from “core Republicans” and “conservatives” to clinch the Republican nomination for president.
DeSantis spoke at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, accusing Haley of relying on Democratic registration changes to support her on Iowa caucus day, saying she was not getting enough attention from key Republican voters. He said that he did not have enough support.
“So she was relying on the support of many Democrats who changed their registrations on caucus day. “We won a lot of Democrats,” DeSantis said.
“I think it's great to build a big tent in the general election, but you can't rely on Democrats coming in and changing registrations to win the Republican primary. You can't win over core Republicans. “We have to win over conservatives, and there's no way she won't do it,” he added.
Mr. DeSantis secured the second place in Iowa on Monday night with about 21% of support, but was still well behind former President Trump, who won with 51% of the vote in the caucuses. Haley had been voting ahead of Florida's governor in the days leading up to the caucuses, coming in third with about 19% of the vote.
He also criticized Haley for saying that Iowa would turn the Republican primary into a two-person contest, emphasizing that she came in second place by a narrow margin.
“She said yes, and her camp also said there were only two tickets from Iowa, and the top two from Iowa were available, and she would at least finish second, and when it came to the race. “I said that,” he said.
“Well, guess what happened? Even though she spent 100 percent of her money attacking me and not a dime attacking Donald Trump… “She didn't do that, that's just the reality,” he said.
The Hill has reached out to Haley's camp for comment.
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