Nikki Haley’s campaign jokes Trump ‘had a pretty good Q1 if you count being indicted as ‘good’

Former UN ambassador is one of the few declared challengers to ex-president for 2024 Republican nomination

Nikki Haley’s 2024 campaign is trolling former President Donald Trump by reminding donors of the negative connotations around his indictment.

“Donald Trump had a pretty good Q1, if you count being indicted as ‘good,’” the memo from Ms Haley’s campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, read as reported by Axios.

The dig seems to be an attempt at Ms Haley’s campaign differentiating her from other high-profile candidates like Mr Trump. The former US ambassador to the United Nations is so far one of the only Republicans to have challenged her former boss for the 2024 Republican primary.

“It’s increasingly clear that Trump’s candidacy is more consumed by the grievances of the past and the promise of more drama in the future, rather than a forward-looking vision for the American people,” the memo said.

Unlike Mr Trump, Ms Haley has run a straight-forward retail politics campaign thus far. She’s focused on meeting voters and lawmakers in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“This kind of campaigning is not as splashy as holding big rallies, and it takes a lot of time and effort, but it’s a proven winner in the early states,” Ms Ankney wrote in the memo obtained by Axios.

In a news release, Ms Haley’s campaign said they had brought in a total of $11m in the first six weeks of her campaign. Most contributions were under $200 but came from all 50 states.

However, even bad press is good press for Mr Trump as he used news of his indictment to push supporters for more donations, going as far as to create a t-shirt with a fake mug shot for people to purchase.

While it is unclear how much Mr Trump’s campaign has raised since the start of the year, his campaign reportedly brought in $12m just in the week after his indictment according to Fox News.

Ms Ankney said Ms Haley’s fundraising “makes her a force to be reckoned with” adding that “voters and donors are clearly responding to Nikki’s conservative message and her call for a new generation of leadership to make America strong and proud.”

Polling from FiveThirtyEight shows Ms Haley polling in near single-digits behind both Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not announced a formal presidential campaign but is expected to run.

In the memo, Ms Haley’s campaign took a small hit at Mr DeSantis as well saying “he’s not ready for prime time” and “made one misstep after another” while on his book tour.

As for other declared Republican candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson, Ms Ankney wrote, “Wait, what others?”