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

CHARLOTTE — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley set her sights on Donald Trump at a North Carolina rally Friday as her campaign barnstorms Super Tuesday states, fighting for a toehold against the former president’s steamrolling campaign.

“We defeated a dozen of the fellas. I just have one more fella I gotta catch up to,” she told a boisterous crowd at a Charlotte brewery.

Haley has ramped up her attacks against Trump in recent weeks, and she let loose a litany of complaints against him Friday.

The crowd fed into it, jeering as Haley criticized Trump for playing the “victim” in his various legal proceedings and booing when she said Trump was working to install his own allies at the Republican National Committee and create a “legal slush fund” for himself there.

“We can do better than two 80-year-olds running for president,” she said.

Haley has built a coalition drawn from disaffected Republicans, independent swing voters and some Democrats disenchanted with a Joe Biden presidency.

Every variation of Haley voter was on hand Friday as they cheered on their candidate — even while acknowledging that her campaign likely has very little runway ahead of it.

“Well, her chances are not good. I mean, they totally aren't,” said Robert Ragon, a 66-year-old politically unaffiliated voter from Matthews who attended Haley’s rally in Charlotte.

Haley has yet to win a single primary state and badly trails Trump in the delegate race.

A High Point University Survey Research Center poll released Friday showed Trump leading the Republican presidential primary field with 69% of the vote compared with Haley’s 24%.

Still, Ragon said he appreciates Haley continuing to campaign.

“I think she's kind of a normal person as opposed to a Donald Trump who's, you know, all in it for himself,” he said. “I think she would make good decisions as our chief executive. I don't think she would rock the boat like Donald Trump wants to do and destroy government. And, you know, I think it's time we get someone who's of a younger generation in as president as well.”

Haley announced earlier Friday that she has raised $12 million in February and has the funds she needs to continue her campaign. It’s a notable fundraising haul, but less than she pulled in during the month of January when she outraised Trump.

Haley acknowledged onstage Friday that Trump has won all of the early voting state contests. But she cast his victories as weak, pointing to the 20% to 40% she has claimed in primary contests.

“That’s not a small number. There’s a lot of us,” she said. “And I will tell you this, If you don’t think you need that 30 to 40%, you are showing exactly why you are going to lose the general election.”

Haley told reporters at a roundtable in Washington, D.C., that she has not made up her mind about whether she will continue campaigning beyond Super Tuesday. So far, she has not scheduled any public appearances beyond March 4.

“I don’t look all the way down the road,” she said. “My approach has been, as long as we’re competitive.”

She said onstage Friday that the media has become “obsessed” with why she’s continuing to run.

“I think I pretty much proved that I'm not trying to be vice president, right?” she said. “And if I cared about my political future, I would have been out a long time. That's not what it is. I'm not doing this for my kids. I'm doing this your kids and grandkids.”

Kalie Kovisto, a 50-year-old Charlotte resident who was at Haley’s rally Friday, said she is a former Democrat frustrated with Biden’s presidency. She recently switched to independent so she could support Haley.

“She's totally qualified, an absolutely amazing person, and she comes from a diverse background, which no one seems to be talking about,” Kovisto said. “She's actually amazing. And like only 20% of people are coming out to vote in the primaries, which is so sad. And I think that if more people came out to vote that she would be doing a whole lot better.”

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: Haley sets her sights on Trump ahead of Super Tuesday in North Carolina