Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley grinned as Vivek Ramaswamy was booed by the audience at the fourth Republican primary debate for calling her “corrupt” – and holding up a notepad with the words written on it.
As in previous debates, Ramaswamy took several particularly nasty swipes at Haley – including accusations that she was engaging in “identity politics” for playing up the fact that she was a woman during her 2024 campaign.
The 38-year-old tech entrepreneur accused Haley’s introductory video “sounded like a Dylan Mulvaney waking Bud Light commercial about her stepping in high heels.”
“In the first debate, she said only a woman could do this job,” Ramaswamy said. “After the third debate, when I criticized Ronna McDaniel for five failed years at the helm of this party and Nikki for her corrupt foreign dealings as a military contractor, she said I had a ‘woman problem’.”
“Maybe I don’t have a women’s problem, but you have a corruption problem,” he accused.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy held up the notepad he was given at the fourth Republican debate, showing that he had scribbled “Nikki = corrupt.”
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley reacts as Ramaswamy was booed for holding up a notepad calling her “corrupt” during the fourth GOP primary debate on Wednesday
Ramaswamy had scribbled something on his notepad at the start of the debate.
At that moment he showed it to the audience: “Nikki = Corrupt.”
“And I think that’s what people need to know.” “Nikki is corrupt,” he said, holding up the tablet.
Ramaswamy was booed while Haley tried not to smile.
When moderator Eliana Johnson asked Haley if she wanted to respond, she declined.
“No, it’s not worth my time to answer him,” she said.
Later, Ramaswamy’s senior advisor and communications director Tricia McLaughlin told that the plan was for the “Nikki = Corrupt” sign.
“I think we played around with it a little bit. It’s very memorable. And in the end he did it. “It was pretty last minute… He probably made other notes, but that was the most important note,” she said.
For most of the debate, Haley had an ally in New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who angrily defended her from another Ramaswamy attack — that she wouldn’t be able to mark certain Ukrainian provinces on a map.
Ramaswamy spoke about the need for a “sensible peace agreement” in Ukraine’s war with Russia and then turned to Haley, saying that she and President Joe Biden were among the only two politicians who believed in the “pointless war.” .
“One thing that Joe Biden and Nikki Haley have in common is that neither of them could even tell you three provinces in eastern Ukraine that they want to send our troops to actually fight,” Ramaswamy said.
“She has no idea what the hell the provinces are called where she wants to send our sons and daughters, our troops and our military equipment to fight,” he continued.
“So reject the myth that you’ve been sold – that someone drank a cup of coffee, worked at the United Nations and went on to earn $8 million – that they have real experience in foreign policy,” Ramaswamy added .
Haley remained petrified throughout the attack.
“Look at the blank expression on his face,” Ramaswamy said. “She doesn’t know the names of the provinces.”
He argued that his “outsider” status gave him an elevated perspective.
When it was Christie’s turn, the former governor of New Jersey denounced the attack.
“This is the fourth debate where you have been voted the most disgusting poser in America in the first 20 minutes,” he told Ramaswamy.
Christie called Haley a “smart, accomplished woman.”
“I want to say one more thing, we’re 25 minutes into this debate and he insulted Nikki Haley’s basic intelligence, not her positions, her basic intelligence,” he roared. “She doesn’t know any regions, she wouldn’t find anything on a map that his three-year-old could find.”
“Look, if you want to disagree on certain points, that’s fine, and Nikki and I disagree on some points. But I’ll tell you this: I’ve known her for 12 years, which is longer than he even started voting in the Republican primary,” Christie added.