Donald Trump’s chief pollster sent a private message to donors boasting that the former president “is set to deliver a South Carolina smackdown to Nikki Haley in her home state where she is best known.”
The poll, first obtained by Axios, revealed that Trump is on track to beat Haley, the former governor of the Palmetto State, by a whopping 39 points in her home state primary in late February. Conducted by pollster Tony Fabrizio – who was involved in Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential runs – the recent survey found Trump supported by nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of South Carolinians, compared to a quarter backing Haley, and a paltry 8 percent in favor of Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
“In our just completed survey of South Carolina Republican primary voters,” Fabrizio wrote in a confidential memorandum first obtained by Axios, “we found former President Donald Trump crushing Nikki Haley in her home state.”
Notably, the pollster argued that if DeSantis were to drop out of the race, Trump would be the bigger winner than Haley. “The head-to-head contest is no better for Haley. One on one, President Trump swamps her 68% to 28% with just 4% undecided. Again, Haley’s weakness is evident in that only 22% are definitely voting for her compared to a whopping 60% definitely voting for President Trump,” the memo reads.
On Friday, Haley ruled out any possibility of ever serving as Trump’s vice president amid speculation the former president might tap her to balance out his ticket if her own presidential ambitions don’t pan out. “I’ve said from the very beginning: I don’t play for second. I don’t want to be anybody’s vice president. That is off the table,” Haley told diners at a restaurant in Amherst, New Hampshire, according to a Politico reporter who overheard the comments.
The former U.N. ambassador’s presidential campaign has been dogged in recent weeks by questions about her willingness to serve as vice president in a second Trump administration. Her refusal to immediately shut down the speculation troubled Chris Christie’s allies and prevented them from immediately endorsing her after the former New Jersey governor dropped out earlier this month, National Review previously reported.
Haley has in recent days sought to tamp down the speculation, telling a local ABC affiliate on Tuesday, “I do not want to be vice-president. Period.”
At a campaign event in late December, one day after Haley infamously waffled a question about the roots of the Civil War, she was asked to clarify her stance on serving as Trump’s vice-president. “I could say to you what you want to hear, and you could go check that box and go do whatever, but I’m going to continue to tell you my truth and the truth that I have always told the truth. Even when I was in the administration, President Trump and I worked well together. Why? Because I told him the truth,” the former governor of South Carolina said in a rambling response.
“If you want to talk about vice-president, I will tell you this now. I’ve said it before: I don’t play for second. I’ve never played for second. I’m not going to start now, but if you want to know who my short VP list is, I’ll let you know when I have it.”
On Wednesday, CNN joined ABC pulling the plug on its debate between Haley and Florida governor Ron DeSantis after the former insisted she would not participate unless Donald Trump were present.
Haley bowed out of the primary debates in New Hampshire the morning after she finished third place in the Iowa caucuses. She announced the news on social media, saying the next time she debates she will be on stage beside either Biden or Trump, who has skipped all five Republican primary debates.
Without mentioning DeSantis in her speech Monday night, Haley cast the current state of the Republican primaries as a “two-person race” seemingly between herself and Trump. DeSantis came in second place.