Nikki Haley has unquestionably had a bad week.

After badly botching what should have been a layup to a simple question from a New Hampshire voter on the reason for the Civil War, the former South Carolina governor blamed the embarrassing moment on an alleged "Democrat plant," a claim which even if true still doesn't explain the perplexing response.

Then there was another New Hampshire campaign stop where Haley got caught off guard by a nine-year-old boy who probably was a plant judging by his question on her "flip-flopping" regarding her opinion on former President Donald Trump and the child's comparison of her to John Kerry. 

But even if so, it couldn't have happened at a worse time for Haley as she tries to ride the perceived "momentum" wave a little over three weeks out from the New Hampshire primary.

Naturally, her primary opponents have also called her out over her answer, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the latter of whose campaign put out an ad capitalizing on the "flip-flop" angle to the boy's question, pointing to what they say is Haley's long history of doing just that:

Here’s why a 9-year-old roasted Nikki Haley as “the new John Kerry” straight to her face: pic.twitter.com/83Nhl6q77W

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) December 29, 2023

DeSantis himself further elaborated on this point when asked by a reporter about her comments, emphasizing what he says is her loyalty to her big money donors and what they want to hear their candidates say. DeSantis said:

Well, it was a total word salad. She was asked a point blank question. She did the incomprehensible word salad. Then she asked the voter, 'Well what do you want me to say,' because he said 'Well what about slavery?' 'Well, what do you want me to say about it?' So that just shows she's a candidate that doesn't have the core conviction. She's trying to figure out what her donors want, maybe what people want to hear at a given moment. That's why she's flipping and flopping on all this.

Watch:

DESANTIS: Nikki Haley gave "an incomprehensible world salad" to a "point blank question”

Haley “doesn't have core convictions. She's trying to figure out what her donors want. Maybe what people want to hear at a given moment. That's why she's flipping and flopping” pic.twitter.com/cqpBXlUJxv

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) December 29, 2023

Whether this has any impact on voters in the New Hampshire primary remains to be seen. But from the DeSantis campaign's vantage point, it makes sense to hammer Haley on this issue for several reasons, with the first one being her media-driven rise in the polls. 

Also, if there has been one consistent complaint about Haley over the years it's been in the perception that she will pull 180s to suit her political ambitions in a New York minute - especially as it relates to Trump, something the DeSantis ad highlighted.

Lastly, I'm sure DeSantis and his campaign remember how Haley and other GOP candidates joined the chorus in trying to dunk on DeSantis over the Disney issue. No doubt there is a high degree of schadenfreude being felt at DeSantis HQ right now, but that won't matter much if it doesn't help them in the Granite State on January 23rd.

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