Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley offered one of the most brutal attack lines of the night against her GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy at the second Republican presidential debate, but before their on-stage feud she offered him high praise on the back cover of his book.
Haley went viral Wednesday night while taking Ramaswamy to task over his recent decision to join TikTok despite the national security risks over the tech company’s links to China, which he argued was part of his outreach to younger voters.
“Honestly, every time I hear you I feel a little bit dumber for what you say,” Haley jabbed the young political outsider.
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However, as pointed out by New York Times columnist Carlos Lozada, Haley had quite the opposite attitude towards the biotech entrepreneur when she offered a glowing blurb for his book “Capitalist Punishment.”
“In ‘Woke Inc.,’ Vivek speaks the truth without fear: woke identity politics is dividing and weakening America at every level,” Haley said in her endorsement of Ramaswamy while giving praise his first book.
“He urges us to lift up all Americans, rather than to pit ourselves against one another. His combination of honesty, intellect, and foresight are exactly what we need to overcome our challenges in the years ahead.”
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Ramaswamy’s book, with Haley’s kind words, was published in April when the both of them were already declared presidential candidates.
“It’s a shame that Nikki Haley feels she has to resort to personal attacks in lieu of an actual vision for the country,” Ramaswamy spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “I’m sure she didn’t launch personal attacks in the boardroom at Boeing, and the American people expect the same as part of the electoral process.”
Haley spokesman Ken Farnaso fired back, telling Fox News Digital “It was an insightful book, and it was written by Vivek from about seven software updates ago. Where’d that guy go?”.
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Haley and Ramaswamy were among seven candidates who were qualified and agreed to appear at the second Republican presidential debate hosted by FOX Business and Univision.
Joining them on the debate stage were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Both Haley and Ramaswamy have seen a bump in the polls following last month’s presidential debate. Former President Trump maintains his dominant lead over the rest of the GOP field, holding more than a 42-point lead over his next competitor DeSantis by a 56-14 margin, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
Haley just edged out Ramaswamy for third place this week with a 5.8% average to his 5.1 average after the political outsider maintained that spot since July. The rest of the field is below 5%.