DeSantis camp launches site targeting Haley: ‘Supported every liberal cause’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has launched a microsite attacking rival Nikki Haley’s secret “liberal” record, The Post has learned.

The site, headlined “Who is the real Nikki Haley?,” tells voters the former ambassador to the United Nations “isn’t the conservative she says she is” and has been “supportive of every liberal cause under the sun.”

The DeSantis camp argues Haley has tried to “conceal” her stances on Hillary Clinton, illegal immigration, China, biological men in women’s bathrooms, child mutilation, Gaza refugees, government censorship, tax hikes, BLM rioters and corporate welfare.

The website also features a video showing Haley’s previous remarks on the issues, including her saying the “reason” she got into politics “was because of Hillary Clinton,” that the US needs “as many immigrants” as it can get legally, and that the death of George Floyd in May 2020 was “personal and painful for everyone.”

The site launch comes as DeSantis and Haley have ramped up their attacks against each other in recent months. The two White House hopefuls are battling for vote share as polls show former President Donald Trump continues to be the GOP frontrunner.

The DeSantis site hits Haley with a lot of the same attacks as it has in the past, but aggregates their argument all in one place.

The Florida governor’s campaign has hammered Haley over her record of bringing in Chinese investment into South Carolina while she was the state’s governor, and went back in forth with Haley over her statements on the possibility of the US accepting refugees from the Gaza Strip — an argument which was later debunked by several fact-checkers.

The website also hones in on Haley’s recent remarks about social media surveillance and is selling t-shirts stating Haley is “always watching.”

Haley caused an uproar Tuesday by saying she would propose requiring social media users to verify their identities out of concern for “national security.”

In response to the subsequent outrage, Haley’s campaign said she believes “social media companies need to do a better job of verifying users so we can crack down on Chinese, Iranian, and Russian bots.” 

The DeSantis video also highlights Haley’s policies on what “care” should be on the table for teenagers who want to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

The former South Carolina governor first said she thought the “law should stay out of it,” and that “this is a job for the parents to handle.” Her campaign later said she “supports banning sex change treatments for minors.”

Haley vetoed a bill while she was governor which would have banned biological males from accessing females restrooms in South Carolina schools, arguing it was not necessary.

Earlier this month, Haley’s super PAC launched an ad attacking DeSantis on his anti-fracking record. The clips were taken out of context and DeSantis has said he opposes fracking in the Florida Everglades due to the environmental makeup of the area, but has supported fracking nationally, the Washington Post said in a Fact Check marking the ad with “Four Pinocchios.”

“Ron DeSantis’ Hail Mary attempt to revive his corpse of a campaign is sad,” Haley spokesman Ken Farnaso told The Post. “Instead, he should explain why he still recruits Chinese businesses to Florida, opposes offshore oil drilling and fracking, and voted to raise the national debt. While Nikki is surging across the early states, DeSantis is tanking. Poll after poll has proven Nikki Haley is the best challenger to Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Ron DeSantis is lying because he’s losing.”

The website debuted hours after a Washington Post/ Monmouth University poll published Friday shows Haley in second place in New Hampshire at 18%, with DeSantis in fifth at 7%.

Nationally, DeSantis has persistently been in second place behind Trump, according to RealClearPolitics.