Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy clashed throughout Wednesday’s fourth Republican primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, reigniting one of the most contentious feuds of the primary cycle thus far, which was punctuated by Ramaswamy’s accusation that Haley was “corrupt.”
Ramaswamy attacked Haley in the opening minutes of the debate, criticizing her for accepting donations from wealthy donors, including some who have supported President Joe Biden, and for her support of the US providing aid to Ukraine.
Haley responded to attacks of her growing support from wealthy donors by dismissing Ramaswamy as “just jealous” and said she doesn’t change her positions to appease donors.
Haley and Ramaswamy have traded barbs at each of the previous three debates, with each exchange heightening the tension between the two. The source of their disagreements typically focuses on foreign policy issues, but as the two continue to clash, their attacks have become increasingly personal. The substance and tone of those moments at Wednesday’s debate appeared to build on the history of confrontation between them, as both candidates leaned into personal attacks.
Ramaswamy reiterated his attacks on Haley’s ties to donors throughout the debate, culminating in him holding up a handwritten sign on his notepad that read “Nikki = Corrupt” as he defended himself from claims that his attacks against her were sexist.
“After the third debate, when I criticized Ronna McDaniel after five failed years of leadership of this party and criticized Nikki for her corrupt foreign dealings as a military contractor, she said that I have a woman problem. Nikki, I don’t have a woman problem. You have a corruption problem. And I think that that’s what people need to know. Nikki is corrupt,” he said, emphasizing his argument by holding up the sign, which he had written in large font on his notepad, for the audience to see.
When asked if she would like to respond to Ramaswamy’s blunt attack, Haley dismissively declined.
“No, it’s not worth my time to respond to him,” she said.
‘Dick Cheney in three-inch heels’
At the first debate in Milwaukee, Haley joined several candidates on the stage, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in criticizing Ramaswamy’s positions on the war in Ukraine, the US relationship with Israel, and China.
“The problem that Vivek doesn’t understand is, he wants to hand Ukraine to Russia, he wants to let China eat Taiwan, he wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends,” Haley said.
Haley added that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “murderer” and that Ramaswamy is “choosing a murderer over a proud American country.”
Ramaswamy hit back at Haley by suggesting she’s supporting America’s role in global conflicts to benefit corporations that supply weapons for the US military.
“Nikki, I wish you well on your future career on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon,” he said.
Haley then cut off Ramaswamy, reiterating her belief that his positions will harm America’s interests.
“He will make America less safe. Under your watch, you will make America less safe,” Haley said. “You have no foreign policy experience and it shows.”
The two continued their disagreement on foreign policy during the third debate in Miami, where Ramaswamy sought to differentiate himself from the former UN ambassador’s foreign policy experience. He portrayed her as overeager to engage the US in foreign conflict and suggested she personally profited from US military contracts during her time on the board of Boeing.
Ramaswamy compared Haley to former Vice President Dick Cheney, viewed by some as the driving force behind the US entering into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during the George W. Bush administration.
“Do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first, or do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels?” Ramaswamy asked the audience.
Haley, the only woman on the stage, responded to the quip about her shoes directly before defending her support for Israel’s military operations against Hamas.
“I’d first like to say they’re five-inch heels and I don’t wear them unless you can run them,” Haley said. “I wear heels, they’re not for a fashion statement. They’re for ammunition.”
During Wednesday night’s debate, Ramaswamy again sought to discredit Haley’s foreign policy experience, which he said is “not the same as foreign policy wisdom,” and challenged Haley on the debate stage to name three provinces in eastern Ukraine.
“Reject this myth that they’ve been selling you that somebody had a cup of coffee stint at the UN and then makes 8 million bucks after has real foreign policy experience. It takes an outsider to see this through,” Ramaswamy said.
“Look at the blank expression,” he continued, gesturing to Haley as members of the audience booed Ramaswamy. “She doesn’t know the names of the provinces she wants to fight for.”
Later in the debate, Haley did name multiple provinces being fought over in eastern Ukraine.
‘You’re just scum’
During the second debate in Simi Valley, California, Haley attacked Ramaswamy for having recently joined TikTok, the social media app owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance. As Ramaswamy sought to defend his decision to join the app in hopes of reaching younger voters, Haley bluntly panned his reasoning.
“Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber,” she said.
Haley continued to attack Ramaswamy for his business dealings in China and called for a total ban on the social media app.
“We can’t trust you. We can’t trust you,” she said. “We can’t have TikTok in our kids’ lives. We need to ban it.”
The entanglement set the stage for another clash during the third debate in Miami after Ramaswamy evoked Haley’s daughter’s use of TikTok as part of his defense for his own use of the app.
“In the last debate, she made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first,” Ramaswamy said.
Haley interjected, telling him to “leave my daughter out of your voice.”
“You’re just scum,” Haley muttered into the microphone as Ramaswamy continued his response, rolling her eyes.