opinion
Just before the Iowa caucuses on Monday, Donald Trump declared on Nikki Haley's Truth Social show, “She doesn't have MAGA, and she never will,” and therefore has no chance of winning the general election.
Haley's campaign was not amused, calling Trump's comments “fake news.”
RELATED: New poll: Trump can beat Biden, but Nikki Haley can't
What polls is Haley's team looking at?
“Now that Nikkei is up and Trump is down, his campaign is launching false and contradictory attacks,” said Olivia Perez Cubas, a spokeswoman for Haley.
She added: “Do not believe the fake news coming from Trump World, they do not believe it themselves.”
If Haley's team thought it was leading in the national polls, a Rasmussen poll last week showed just the opposite.
The poll reported that “Former President Donald Trump continues to lead President Joe Biden in the 2024 elections, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has a narrow lead over the incumbent, but Biden will defeat former United Nations Secretary Nikki Haley.”
The latest national telephone and online poll by Rasmussen Reports found that if the 2024 election was between Biden and Trump, 49% of likely American voters would vote for Trump, while 41% would vote for Biden. Eight percent (8%) may vote for another candidate, but only two percent (2%) are undecided.
Eight points is a significant lead for Trump over Biden. DeSantis barely edged Biden by one point, 42%-41%.
But Nikki Haley will lose to Biden, with Rasmussen showing the incumbent with a two-point lead, 38% to 36%.
We don't know which poll he was citing, but Trump questioned Haley's reasoning on Monday after she gave an interview with Fox News.
RELATED: Trump suggests that if he becomes president again, Joe Biden may be indicted
Iowa caucus
But these are national numbers.
We know more about the state of the race from last night's Iowa caucus, where Trump blew Haley out of the water.
The final results show President Trump receiving 51% of the votes, while Haley came in third place with 19%.
Perhaps it was Trump's warning that got the ball rolling in Iowa:
“Nikkei is a global Renault, backed by American for Chinese growth, a con job by Charles Koch,” Trump wrote. “It won't happen to her or DeSanctimonious! Vivek's votes have been wasted, and she must come to Trump. Make America Great Again!!!
Things will get nastier. This is just the beginning.
May the best man or woman win.
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