Nikki Haley criticizes Trump campaign for threatening to cut off access to nonsupporters

RALEIGH, N.C. — Campaigning in North Carolina Saturday, Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley criticized former president Donald Trump’s campaign for threatening those who don’t vote for him in the Washington, D.C., primary election.

“That’s not how you win an election,” Haley told reporters after a rally in Raleigh. “This is about candidates wanting people to come into their fold, not threatening them, not pushing them out of their club. Is that what we want as a leader? The majority of these people will tell you no, they’re done with that.”

Haley was responding to a Donald Trump campaign official who told POLITICO Friday that the campaign would be tracking who votes in the Washington, D.C., presidential primary. And lobbyists who don’t vote won’t gain access to Trump if he returns to the White House.

“If you don’t bother voting, don’t bother calling,” the campaign official said.

More: Nikki Haley sets sights on Donald Trump in North Carolina, seeking Super Tuesday toehold

Trump previously threatened Republican donors, saying if they continued giving to Haley’s campaign they would be barred from his MAGA movement.

“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution' to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!”

Haley argued that it’s a pattern of behavior for Trump, and it turns off voters.

“Donald Trump can say that we’re unified,” she told reporters. “This crowd will tell you there’s no unity with Donald Trump. All they hear are threats and the fact that he bars them from being a part of his club.”

Haley has ramped up her rhetoric against Trump in the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday, and she continued that trend in Raleigh and in Charlotte the night before.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Nikki Haley in North Carolina: 'There's no unity with Donald Trump'