GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley told a group of New Hampshire voters Wednesday that she trusts them to “correct” the results of the Iowa caucuses later this month.
“We have an opportunity to get this right. And I know we’ll get it right, and I trust you. I trust every single one of you. You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it,” she said at a campaign event in New Hampshire.
“And then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home. That’s what we do,” she added.
The crowd cheered Haley’s remarks, which come less than two weeks from the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses — and just days before her debate with fellow Republican contender Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa on Jan. 10.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley greets voters at a town hall campaign event, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, in Rye, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), who has endorsed DeSantis, took a shot at Haley’s comments in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“I trust Iowans to make their own decisions. No ‘corrections’ needed!” Reynolds said.
DeSantis and Haley are currently neck and neck in the state, polling at an average of 18 percent and 17.1 percent, respectively, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling average. However, it’s unlikely that either candidate will catch former President Trump, who is polling at an average of 51.6 percent in Iowa.
DeSantis and Haley are scheduled for separate CNN town halls in Des Moines, Iowa, that will be aired back-to-back Thursday. They each also qualified for the CNN debate just five days before the caucuses; Trump has also qualified but has so far skipped primary debates.
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This week, Haley surpassed DeSantis in FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average for the first time in the 2024 campaign season. Even with her recent surge, Trump still holds a 50-point lead in the outlet’s national polling average.
Haley has been focusing much of her campaigning in New Hampshire, hoping to pull off an upset in the state, where she has the endorsement of Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
In New Hampshire, Haley trails Trump by 17 points with 26.7 percent of support in the state’s polling average, followed by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 11 percent and DeSantis with 8.3 percent, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.