Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) attacked former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) on Tuesday during an appearance with Newsmax’s Eric Bolling, deeming his GOP competitor another “establishment candidate” who will be unable to win a national election.
“Candidates that are establishment candidates will not win elections in this country nationally because of the failures of the policy,” DeSantis said during his appearance on the show — an appearance that comes as both DeSantis and Haley essentially battle it out for second place in the Republican primary race.
DeSantis provided a few examples of these establishment positions, including immigration.
“So, for example, she has said that there should be no limits on immigration, it should be determined by corporations and CEOs. I don’t agree with that at all. I think immigration should be about what’s best for Americans and American workers,” DeSantis said, also pointing to her proposal for social media censorship, targeting anonymous accounts.
“Eric, you’ve covered the censorship of conservatives, how people have been singled out, cancel culture. People have had their lives ruined because of this type of stuff. So that was her policy on day one that she’s done,” DeSantis said.
“And then when we stood up in Florida to fight for the well-being of our kids in school and not have sexualized curriculum and transgenderism injected in elementary school, we had to take on the biggest company in Florida, Disney,” he said, asserting that Haley “sided with Disney.”
This represents a pattern, DeSantis suggested, asserting that Haley “tends to side with the large corporations, and she tends to side with the establishment interests.”
“Ultimately, you know, she can try to obfuscate, but as voters see that, you know, that is not going to be good for her with Republican voters,” he added.
His remarks come as tensions between the two flare, as they vie for the second place position in the polls, while former President Donald Trump remains virtually untouchable. Haley’s campaign is slated to spend a total of $10 million in Iowa and New Hampshire in hopes of trouncing DeSantis in the early states, as she is already ajead of him in both South Carolina and New Hampshire, per RealClearPolitics (RCP).
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While RCP shows Haley trailing DeSantis by an average of three points in Iowa, some recent polls — released after Gov. Kim Reynolds’ endorsement of the Florida governor — show her tying DeSantis in the Hawkeye State.
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The two presidential hopefuls are expected to face off with other qualified competitors in the fourth GOP debate taking place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on December 6.