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A Donald Trump-supporting super PAC has spent thousands on direct mail in what appears to be an effort to undermine his 2024 rival, Nikki Haley, in New Hampshire.
Haley, the former South Carolina governor and former United Nations ambassador, is behind the former president in Republican primary national polls, according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight. With 11.2 percent of the vote share, Haley is polling behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 12.1 percent and Trump at 61.8 percent.
But with 25.7 percent of the vote share in New Hampshire, to Trump's 44.1 percent, Haley is surging in the state compared to her performance in national polls.
According to a recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing, MAGA Inc., which was formed by allies of the former president in September 2022 and superseded previous PACs, spent $85,910.59 on what is listed as "direct mail: printing and postage."
The document, filed on December 30, lists the "name of federal candidate supported or opposed by expenditure" as Haley and says the expenditure was based in New Hampshire. It says that the money was spent on December 20 and disseminated to the public on December 29.
Newsweek reached out to MAGA Inc. on its website and Taylor Budowich, its founder and CEO, via social media for comment.
MAGA Inc. spent more than $3.4 million in TV ads targeting Haley in the state in late December, according to FEC filings reported by the Daily Beast, that criticized her for apparently reneging on a 2013 South Carolina gubernatorial promise not to raise the gas tax. Her campaign later denied she supported gas tax increases while in the role. MAGA Inc. spent nearly $370,000 on anti-Haley mailers and text messages in the fortnight before January 2.
When the gas ad aired, Haley responded in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: "Two days ago, Donald Trump denied our surge in New Hampshire existed. Now, he's running a negative ad against me. Someone's getting nervous. #BringIt"
A super PAC backing Haley, Stand for America, then launched its own ad attacking Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump has reportedly been asking his inner circle whether Haley would be a good running mate, according to Politico. Haley has dismissed calls that she will be Trump's potential vice president, recently stating: "I don't play for second."
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About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more