Campaign

DNC chair tells Haley that South Carolina Dems aren’t ‘bailing you out’

by Filip Timotija - 02/03/24 3:09 PM ET

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison talks to reporters as polls open for South Carolina’s lead-off Democratic presidential primary on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Harrison says President Joe Biden’s push for the diverse state to hold the party’s first primary this year shows his commitment to Black voters. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison warned GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley ahead of the Palmetto State primary that South Carolina Democrats won’t be “bailing” her out.

While speaking during an event Saturday morning in Columbia, S.C., Harrison relayed a message to Haley that she should not expect assistance from Democrats, where the campaign is looking to close the gap between former President Trump and Haley in her home stage.

Harrison also slammed the former South Carolina governor’s record in her home state, keying in on healthcare.

“We know Nikki Haley,” Harrison said. “We know Nikki Haley very well. Nikki Haley was a governor of this state who allowed her hometown hospital to close, where her parents still live.”

“Nikki Haley is a governor in the state who blocked 250,000 people from getting health care in this country,” he continued. “Nikki Haley is the governor that signed the most one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country.”

The DNC head, who called Haley a “MAGA minion” in October, continued the same attack against her, bundling her, again, into the “Make America Great Again” movement led by Trump.

“My message to Nikki from you know, bless her heart from the very start, is that we’re not gonna vote for you, because you didn’t do anything for us,” he said.

“You didn’t do anything for us so we aren’t gonna bail you out. You know, we got two MAGA apples in this field that’s left, and both of them are right,” Harrison added. “And so Democrats in South Carolina bail neither one of them out.”

Haley, who is the only remaining major candidate running against Trump, has an uphill climb in her home, just three weeks before the state’s primary kicks off.

Currently, she is trailing by over 30 points, according to the latest The Hill/Decision Desk HQ aggregate of polls. Still, her allies in the state have pointed to some recent polling that shows her narrowing the lead the former president has.

With the Trump campaign shifting its focus to the general election, where he will likely face a rematch with President Biden, Haley’s camp has rolled out a series of ads on Thursday to tout her record when she was the state’s governor. She’s also hit both Biden and Trump on age, calling them “grumpy old men” in her latest attacks.

In a statement to The Hill, Haley’s spokesperson suggested Democrats prefer Trump over the former governor, because they worry she could defeat Biden.

“Nothing would make Democrats happier than Donald Trump being the Republican nominee because they know they can’t beat Nikki Haley,” spokesperson AnnMarie Graham-Barnes said in the statement. “South Carolina remembers everything she did as governor, and 70 percent of Americans are looking for an alternative to two grumpy old men.”