Nikki Haley, undeterred by polls, says she welcomes Ron DeSantis to 2024 race

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley isn’t worried about another lawmaker jumping into the 2024 race in hopes of snatching control from former President Donald Trump, nor is she worried about low poll numbers.

The former United Nations ambassador told America 180’s David Brody that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), an undeclared 2024 presidential candidate, should announce a campaign soon. “I mean, I think he should get in if he’s going to get in,” Haley said. “I got in in February. I’m a decisive person. I didn’t need to wait on anything else. If you’re going to do it, jump in and do it. And you know, I welcome him to the race.”

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“I think the American people are ready to vet everyone,” she added.

DeSantis is widely expected to announce his campaign in the following weeks, but allies have publicly commented that he should join the fray sooner rather than later. The Florida governor had signaled he wouldn’t announce before the Sunshine State’s legislative session ended, which it did last week.

Although not a candidate, DeSantis is Trump’s closest competitor in the GOP primary, polling shows. Trump consistently and comfortably leads all other potential Republicans in polls, but DeSantis has also consistently placed second. A Morning Consult survey released Tuesday showed Trump receiving 60% of GOP primary voter support compared to 19% who supported DeSantis, a 41 percentage point advantage.

But Haley is not swayed by national polling.

“Go look at any presidential election prior to this, at this point in time, and tell me if the polls didn’t change dramatically a year from now,” Haley said. Instead, Haley touted her visits to Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the early primary states that will determine momentum for presidential candidates.

“We’re doing the groundwork. The national polls are not going to change anytime soon. When we start seeing more activity on the ground, more debates happening, more of those things, then that’ll be fine,” she explained before referencing the 50,000 donations her campaign received from all 50 states in six weeks.

Haley had more to say about her rivalry with DeSantis, especially his feud with Disney. The feud stemmed from Disney criticizing DeSantis’s support of the Parental Rights in Education Act last year, which led to DeSantis wrestling back control of the special district encompassing Walt Disney World. Disney sued DeSantis last month, citing “a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain state officials.” Not to be outdone, DeSantis’s hand-picked oversight board countersued Disney.

Haley previously taunted the Florida governor by encouraging Disney to move its business to South Carolina.

“If Disney would like to move their hundreds of thousands of jobs to South Carolina and bring the billions of dollars with them, I’ll let them know I’ll be happy to meet them in South Carolina and introduce them to the governor and the legislature that would welcome it,” Haley told Fox News last month.

During her interview with Brody, Haley declared that “Most companies are woke these days” before she criticized DeSantis for taking $50,000 worth of contributions from Disney. She also implored him to communicate with Disney. “As a governor talking to another governor who has dealt with woke companies in her state, pick up the phone, meet with the executives, hash this out in a backroom, and get back to the normal life of business for Floridians,” Haley said.

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Haley also said during her interview she would like Trump to participate in GOP primary debates this summer, although Trump has indicated he will likely skip the debates. “I think that, you know, at the end of the day, he probably sees that it would do him more harm to get on the debate stage than not,” Haley said.

“At the end of the day, I think the American people will want to see him on that stage. I think they’ll want to see all the candidates on the stage,” she continued.