Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley told a New Hampshire campaign event crowd that voters in the state would “correct” Iowa caucus results.
“You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it,” Ms Haley told a New Hampshire audience on Wednesday, according to the New York Times. “And then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home.”
The former South Carolina governor made the remarks one day before appearing in Iowa. Ms Haley and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis have been neck-and-neck for months. However, recent polls suggest that the former UN ambassador has surpassed Mr DeSantis, securing second place behind Donald Trump.
The Iowa-directed comments are particularly interesting because Mr DeSantis has been investing his efforts in the state.
The comments sparked outrage from supporters of the Florida Republican, who quickly came to Iowa voters’ defence.
Iowa Gov Kim Reynolds, who has endorsed Mr DeSantis, wrote on X: “I trust Iowans to make their own decisions. No ‘corrections’ needed!”
Family Leader president Bob Vander Plaats, who has endorsed Mr DeSantis, took to X, labelling Ms Haley’s comments as an “admission of getting beat in the Hawkeye state” and saying they “clear clarity and renewed conviction to Iowans as they Caucus for” Mr DeSantis.
A 21 December poll from American Research Group indicated that Ms Haley is closing the gap between her and the prominent frontrunner, showing she is within four percentage points of Mr Trump.
This isn’t her first controversial remark as of late. Last week Ms Haley became the subject of criticism from all sides after failing to mention slavery as the cause of the Civil War.
The following day in a radio interview, she accused the man who asked the question at a campaign event of being a “Democrat plant.” She tried to walk back her previous remarks by saying, “Of course the Civil War was about slavery…that’s the easy part of it.”
