Haley on Trump: ‘This is not a coronation. This is an election.’

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley deflected the idea that her campaign's chances of success depended on New Hampshire, blaming the “political class” for coronating former President Trump as the Republican nominee. , “This is not a coronation. This is an election.”

The former U.N. ambassador says his campaign's success is riding on the nation's first primary in the Granite State, in an interview with NewsNation anchor Leland Wittert in New Hampshire on Monday. “It's not fair at all,” he said.

She pointed to steady gains in Iowa in polls ahead of the Hawkeye State caucuses, where she finished third behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who abstained on Sunday.

“It was never fair,” Haley said Monday ahead of New Hampshire's primary. “You know, I said we need to be strong in Iowa. We started at 2%. We finished at 20. We've got to be stronger in New Hampshire. We'll try to do that tomorrow. And , we have to be stronger than South Carolina.”

Mr. Trump had a strong showing in Iowa, winning the state by more than 30 points and could be further boosted by news of Mr. DeSantis' resignation and endorsement of the former president on Tuesday.

Haley warned on Monday that Trump won “only” 1.5% of the vote in Iowa, a state of more than 3 million people, and that his victory was not representative of a wide range of voters.

“One of the things we have to remember is that Donald Trump only won Iowa with 1.5 percent of the vote. 56,000 people out of a population of 3 million people are in Iowa. I voted for it,” Haley said. “That's not representative of the country. And the political class is saying, 'Oh, it's him.' It must be him. No, this is not a coronation. This is an election. ”

The former South Carolina governor said his campaign is focused on doing well “one state at a time,” adding that his home state, where he hopes to perform well, will soon be included on the Republican election calendar. It reminded me of.

“And we're going state by state and trying to get real, ordinary people representation,” Haley said. “And that's what we're focused on. We're going to take it one step at a time. And we're heading to my favorite state of South Carolina.”

Like Trump, Haley hopes to build on her momentum and cause an upset in Tuesday's primary. Currently locked in a one-on-one battle with Trump, she leads the former president by 13.8 percentage points in the latest poll tallied by The Hill/Decision Desk Headquarters.

Her campaign also benefited from DeSantis' withdrawal, raising more than $500,000 in less than 24 hours and already trying to make a presence in her home state, despite finishing second in New Hampshire. There is. The campaign has announced a $4 million ad buy in South Carolina that will begin the day after the Granite State primary and will target all seven markets in the Palmetto State.