FIRST ON FOX: A super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president is taking aim at his GOP primary rival Nikki Haley, again comparing her to Hillary Clinton in a new seven-figure ad buy in Iowa -- as the battle between the two candidates heats up and a day before the two go head-to-head in a presidential primary debate.
Fight Right, a political action committee backing DeSantis for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, says it has spent $1.54 million on the ad buy, which will go out on cable and broadcast in Iowa – where the first-in-the-nation caucuses will take place in January.
The ad cites past remarks from Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration, in which she said that Clinton who inspired her to run for office.
DESANTIS CHALLENGES TRUMP: ‘WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?’
It goes on to accuse her of supporting raising taxes and open borders "like Hillary" before also citing recent remarks from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dinon, who urged "liberal" Democrats to back Haley to give Republicans a choice other than former President Donald Trump.
"Now the globalist Wall Street bankers who financed Hillary’s campaigns are funding Haley’s campaigns," the ad says.
"And just like Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley shouldn’t be president," it says – calling her "wrong for America like Hillary."
"With 'Like Hillary,' we're cutting through the noise to expose the truth about Nikki Haley's troubling track record," David Dewhirst, Chairman of Fight Right Inc.., said in a statement. "From tax hikes to open borders to ties with China, the parallels are striking. Fight Right is dedicated to bringing these facts to the forefront and empowering Iowa voters with the truth."
The ad buy comes as Haley and DeSantis locked in a fierce battle for second place behind clear frontrunner former President Donald Trump. It’s the latest attempt to compare Haley to Clinton by her rivals. The Trump campaign has also pointed to the times Haley has said she was inspired by Clinton to run for office.
However, the comparison has also been fact-checked by multiple outlets for missing context, specifically that Haley has also stressed her ideological differences with the secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate. One of the clips used in the ad, in which Haley says Clinton was "the reason I got into politics" omits her also saying that "I don’t agree with anything that [Clinton] has to say."
She said that the inspiration from Clinton came because she had been given multiple reasons why she shouldn’t run but then heard Clinton speak.
"Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker on a leadership institute, and she said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn’t but that’s all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking ‘That’s it. I’m running for office.’" she told the New York Times in 2011.
Haley's campaign has also pointed to past remarks in which she has criticized Clinton, including telling voters in 2016 that Clinton would be "disastrous" as president and would be "absolutely worse" than former President Barack Obama.
"This is the sign of a desperate, losing candidate," Haley spokesperson Ken Farnaso told Fox News Digital. "As Ron DeSantis drops in the polls, Nikki Haley has surged into second place in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina because voters know she is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump and Joe Biden."
Haley and DeSantis will be joined on the debate stage on Wednesday night in Alabama by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie. Trump has again declined to attend the debate.
