Nikki Haleys pitch: Ron DeSantis isn’t different enough from Donald Trump

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Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump are both in the presidential race and sparring daily over their records, leadership styles, and name pronunciation. But while the two heavyweights look at each other’s differences, Nikki Haley is trying to convince GOP voters that they are one and the same.

The former South Carolina governor is trying to carve a path by arguing that both in policy and style DeSantis isn’t a big step away from Trump for Republicans who don’t want to give the former president a third nomination.

A prime example? DeSantis is in an ongoing legal and political battle with Disney over the company’s criticism of a law that restricts classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation.

During her CNN town hall on Sunday, Haley seemed to link it to Trump’s fights, arguing that the company has taken liberal stances in the past on issues like immigration, but that DeSantis only turned on them when criticized personally.

It’s like all these revenge things, Haley said. We ended up on that road. (DeSantis returned Monday afternoon in an appearance on Fox News.)

Haleys team has been laying the groundwork for this idea of ​​tying the top two candidates as one in an effort to best DeSantis as the primary non-Trump alternative for weeks now. At the same town hall, he criticized both candidates for their unwillingness to clearly state whether they wanted Ukraine to defeat Russia.

For them to sit there and say this is a territorial dispute, that’s just not the case or to say we should remain neutral, Haley said. It is in the best interest of our national security for Ukraine to win.

Just days before the DeSantis campaign launch, Haleys team also sent a memo to interested parties that argued against the DeSantis pitch as an older credible alternative to Trump. Not Trump Without the Drama. Just a mini-Trump, Haleys team declared, pointing to recent releases of internal debate prep footage from DeSantis’ 2018 race, as well as a Florida congressman saying he refused to endorse DeSantis in part because he couldn’t get a call back.

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