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Rival GOP campaigns weigh in on Haley’s Fox News town hall performance: ‘Reject her on caucus night’

Rival GOP campaigns weigh in on Haley’s Fox News town hall performance: ‘Reject her on caucus night’

Rival Republican presidential campaigns took to social media to blast former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley during and after her participation in a Fox News town hall. Haley participated in the hour-long town hall, which was hosted by “Special Report” chief political anchor Bret Baier and “The Story” executive editor and anchor Martha MacCallum, before a live audience one week ahead of the infamous Iowa caucuses next week. The former South Carolina governor touched on the border and inflation in her answers to questions from citizens of the Hawkeye State. She also took aim at some of her top GOP rivals, including former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. She also attacked President Biden. HALEY PUSHES BACK BUT DOES NOT CATEGORICALLY RULE OUT BEING TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE Haley’s rivals had words, though, as the former governor made her case to Iowans and voters across the country, with former President Trump blasting Haley on TruthSocial over her comments about beating the former president “fair and square.” “Nikki Haley, who said I was a great President and that she would ‘never run against me,’ just stated that I ‘should not be kicked off the ballot’ and that she ‘will beat me fair and square,’” Trump wrote. “Her only problem is, a new Morning Consult poll that just came out has me leading her by 43 points in Iowa,” Trump wrote in the post that included a screenshot of the poll numbers. “Also, interestingly, I’ve gone up 8 points, and she’s only gone up 4, but Ron DeSanctimonious has gone down by 4–Could be the end of the line for Ron.” “I would like to congratulate ‘Aida’ Hutchinson on the fact that, after being at ZERO for 7 consecutive months, he has broken the ice and is now at a solid 1%,” Trump continued. “Sloppy Chris Christie is ‘DEAD!’” Tricia McLaughlin, the spokesperson for GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, told Fox News Digital that Ramaswamy “didn’t watch” Haley’s town hall as “he was busy meeting Iowans on his fifth campaign of the day, while Nikki Haley cancelled her events.” He repeatedly blasted her on Monday on social media for canceling a Monday morning event in Sioux City due to a snowstorm. Carly Atchison, spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, told Fox News Digital, “First Nikki Haley insulted Iowans by saying New Hampshire voters will ‘correct’ their votes, then tonight she just lied to their faces.” “Haley continues to show how little respect she has for Iowa and gives Iowans a new reason every day to reject her on caucus night,” Atchison said. DeSantis’ rapid response team fired off during the town hall, as well, taking aim at Haley’s truthfulness. “‘If you have to lie to win, you don’t deserve to win,’ Nikki Haley tells Iowa caucusgoers right before lying to them,”  “‘I never said Hillary Clinton was an inspiration!’” the account continued. “Really, Nikki? Let’s roll the tape.” The post included a video of Haley’s response to DeSantis’ attack ad criticizing her for past comments regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Haley accused DeSantis of “lying” about her comments. “Nikki Haley says Ron DeSantis does not deserve to win because he tells the truth,” the DeSantis War Room wrote in another post. “Interesting take.” “DeSantis is desperate,” Haley said on Monday. “He’s lying because he’s losing. But let’s go – the problem is, if you have to lie to win, you don’t deserve to win. I never said Hillary Clinton was an inspiration. What I said when I was talking to a group of women who were looking at running for office, I said the same thing about her that I said about Sarah Palin, and that is when I was looking to run. Everybody told me why I couldn’t do it.” A spokesperson for Haley’s campaign echoed her boss by saying it was “awfully nice” that the GOP rivals were giving Haley a lot of attention. “As Nikki said tonight, it’s awfully nice of her opponents to pay so much attention to her,” Haley spokesperson AnnMarie Graham-Barnes said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “It’s a sure sign that she is rising, and they are growing increasingly desperate.” Former President Trump’s campaign also hit Haley during her town hall on China, posting a graphic accusing the former ambassador of giving away “free land” to a firm run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “Nikki Haley gave 197 acres of free land to a Chinese company run by the CCP,” the Trump campaign wrote. Haley has been criticized over her business with China as South Carolina governor. Haley’s town hall comes as she and other GOP presidential candidates barnstorm Iowa ahead of the infamous caucuses. She is not the only candidate taking the stage for Fox News town halls this week. DeSantis and Trump will both be having their own town halls on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed reporting. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Haley fires back at Biden, Trump, DeSantis at Fox News town hall with one week until Iowa caucuses

Haley fires back at Biden, Trump, DeSantis at Fox News town hall with one week until Iowa caucuses

DES MOINES, IA – With one week until the Iowa caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, Nikki Haley is a candidate on the rise. But with her rise in the polls comes more scrutiny for Haley, and more incoming fire from her rivals for the GOP nomination and from President Biden. On Monday, at a Fox News town hall hosted by “Special Report” chief political anchor Bret Baier and “The Story” executive editor and anchor Martha MacCallum, the former South Carolina governor who served as ambassador to the United Nations in former President Donald Trump’s administration fired back. Among her targets, Biden, who hours earlier knocked her for failing to mention slavery when answering a question about the causes of the Civil War.  WHAT NIKKI HALEY SAID AT HER FOX NEWS TOWN HALL IN IOWA  “Let me be clear for those who don’t seem to know: Slavery was the cause of the Civil War,” the president said hours earlier, as he gave a speech in Haley’s hometown. Biden spoke at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, a historic Black church where nine parishioners were killed in a horrific 2015 shooting. “Mother Emanuel Church is a sacred place,” Haley said when asked to respond. “For Biden to show up there and give a political speech is offensive in itself. And Haley stressed that “I don’t need someone who palled around with segregationists in the ’70s and has said racist comments all the way through his career lecturing me or anyone in South Carolina about what it means to have racism, slavery, or anything related to the Civil War.” Biden came under criticism as he ran for the White House during the 2020 presidential cycle for speaking positively about two segregationist senators he had years earlier worked with in the Senate, as he noted that there was at least “some civility” in the chamber. GREAT EXPECTATIONS: THE PRESSURE’S ON FOR TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND HALEY TO PERFORM IN IOWA’S CAUCUSES Haley also argued that “Biden should be fired” after the Pentagon failed to disclose that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized for elective surgery, leaving the president in the dark for a couple of days. “This is unbelievable that we have a situation like this.” “I have a problem with the fact that Biden is not talking to his secretary of Defense every single day anyway,” Haley stressed. Haley has soared in recent months, thanks in part to her well-regarded performances in the first three Republican presidential primary debates. Over the past month she hs caught up with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the latest Iowa polls and in national surveys, for a distant second place behind Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner for the nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. And Haley has surged to second place and narrowed the gap with Trump in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second – just eight days after Iowa. FIRST ON FOX: HALEY FUNDRAISING SOARS THE PAST THREE MONTHS Trump and his political allies have increasingly taken aim at Haley in recent weeks. The Trump campaign and an aligned super PAC are running new ads that blast Haley over the combustible issue of border security and illegal immigration. “Haley even opposed Trump’s wall and Haley repeatedly pushed amnesty for illegals,” the narrator in a new spot that started running Monday claimed. “Nikki Haley – too weak, too liberal, to fix the border.” And the Trump campaign blasted out emails during the Fox News town hall targeting Haley over immigration, taxes and the support she’s received from some top dollar Wall Street donors. Firing back, Haley argued “just because President Trump says something doesn’t make it true.” “He’s lying about it,” she stressed. “And I’ll tell you the reason he’s lying about it is because he’s taking snippets of things I said. I said you shouldn’t just do the border wall. You have to do more than that. That’s what I said.” But Haley and her campaign take the increased attacks as a sign that Trump’s increasingly concerned about her upward mobility in the polls. “I appreciate all the attention President Trump is giving me. It is quite sweet and thoughtful of him,” she said. Trump and his allies aren’t the only ones taking aim at Haley. DeSantis and two super PACs aligned with his campaign are also training their fire on Haley. A recent ad claims that Haley was inspired by former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who’s a popular target for Republicans. “DeSantis is desperate. He’s lying because he’s losing,” Haley charged. “I never said Hillary Clinton was an inspiration.” DeSantis joins Fox News Tuesday for a similar town hall, with Trump taking questions from Baier and MacCallum on Wednesday. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Nikki Haley urges Supreme Court to keep Trump on ballot, says she will beat him ‘fair and square’

Nikki Haley urges Supreme Court to keep Trump on ballot, says she will beat him ‘fair and square’

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said during a Fox News town hall that former President Trump should not be taken off the ballot and predicted she will defeat him “fair and square” without outside help from Democrats in Colorado and other states. “No, he shouldn’t be taken off the ballot and the Supreme Court needs to rule quickly before other states start to do this,” Haley said during a Fox News town hall in Iowa on Monday night. “This is one of those, don’t open a door if you don’t want to see what happens this is a door we don’t need to open. I will defeat President Trump fair and square. I don’t need anybody throwing him off the ballot to do it.” Haley received applause for that remark before she continued.  “But this started back with COVID. The idea that you have people telling people what to do, how to think, what to how to live, all of that, that’s wrong. If they can do this to him, they’ll do it to someone else. We can’t have others saying, I don’t think he should be on the ballot. I think Americans can decide on their own whether they want him to be on the ballot or not.” HALEY PUSHES BACK BUT DOES NOT CATEGORICALLY RULE OUT BEING TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear arguments on whether former President Trump will be on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot after the state’s Supreme Court voted to remove him from the ballot in December citing the 14th Amendment and Trump’s alleged role in the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol which Democrats have referred to as an “insurrection.” The justices said they will hear the case on an expedited basis, with arguments on Feb. 8. HALEY RESPONDS TO TRUMP, DESANTIS’ SWIPES: IT’S ‘SWEET’ THAT THEY’RE SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY AGAINST ME The historical hearing will consider the meaning of the 14th Amendment, which bars people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office.  The amendment was adopted in 1868, following the Civil War. Maine Democrat Shenna Bellows also recently announced that Maine was removing Trump from the 2024 ballot which the Trump campaign has appealed in court. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP More than two dozen states have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court urging the nation’s highest court to keep former President Trump on the Colorado Republican presidential ballot and warning that failing to do so could throw the 2024 presidential election “into chaos.” Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Sarah Rumpf contributed to this report

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 685

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 685

As the war enters ifs 685th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. Fighting Four people were killed and at least 45 injured as Russia continued its barrage of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. One person was killed after missiles hit a shopping centre and residential buildings in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih in the southeast, while two people were killed in a separate missile attack on the western region of Khmelnytsky. At least one person was also killed in northeastern Kharkiv after four missiles hit the city. Kherson regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian troops carried out 131 artillery attacks on the southern region, killing two people and injuring five. Ukraine’s military said Russia had launched “a large number of ballistic missiles” and it was able to bring down 18 of the 51 that were fired. Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat said air defences achieved “a good result”, with all eight drones destroyed and some Russian missiles missing their targets. The Russian Defence Ministry said in its daily briefing it had used sea and air-launched long-range missiles, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, to strike what it called “facilities of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex”. Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said 300 people had been evacuated from Russia’s Belgorod because of Ukrainian attacks. Russian forces destroyed 10 Ukrainian rockets over the region in the evening, Moscow’s Defence Ministry said. Two drones were also destroyed over the Russian border region of Bryansk, it added. A missile launched from Russia’s Belgorod region flying towards Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine [Vadym Bielikov/AFP] The Ukrainian military said Russian forces made unsuccessful efforts to advance in several areas along the front line, including around Lyman in the Kharkiv region as well as in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions. Leonid Pasechnik, the Moscow-installed head of Ukraine’s occupied Luhansk region, said a Russian warplane accidentally released a bomb, an FAB-250 which carries a high-explosive warhead, on the occupied Ukrainian town of Rubizhne. No one was injured, he said. Politics and diplomacy A Ukrainian lawmaker said controversial new draft legislation on military mobilisation will not conscript women or introduce a lottery. “There will be no unconstitutional positions,” Yehor Chernev, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster. Pope Francis, addressing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine in his yearly address to diplomats, said “indiscriminately striking” civilians was a war crime because it breached international humanitarian law. Weapons German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged European Union countries to provide more military assistance to Ukraine, saying most countries were not doing enough to give Ukraine the weapons it needed to battle the Russian invasion. United States White House officials met about a dozen executives from the technology and defence industries as part of an effort to support Ukraine’s access to cutting-edge US equipment. Companies like Palantir Technologies and Skydio joined the talks that focused on drones and demining. Adblock test (Why?)

New Jersey lawmakers pass pay raises for themselves, the governor and other officials

New Jersey lawmakers pass pay raises for themselves, the governor and other officials

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey lawmakers on Monday passed legislation to boost their annual salaries from $49,000 to $82,000, along with raises for the governor and other top officials. The Democrat-led Legislature approved the bill a day before a new session starts and when lawmakers take their oaths of office. If signed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, the bill won’t go into effect until 2026, after Murphy leaves office and lawmakers face voters in the regular 2025 general election. NEW JERSEY TO ALLOW TEENS ELIGIBLE FOR UPCOMING GENERAL ELECTION TO VOTE IN PRIMARIES Lawmakers haven’t voted themselves a raise since 2002, and some argued that the 67% increase is needed to keep up with rising costs. They also said they sometimes had to dip into their own pockets to perform the duties the job requires. “I’m sponsoring this legislation because it is necessary, not to give myself a pay raise,” said state Sen. Dick Codey, who’s retiring after the current session and won’t get the pay increase. The measure advanced out of committee over strong objections from Republicans, who questioned the soundness of a pay raise. “Raising salaries … is crazy,” said GOP Assembly member Brian Bergen during a recent committee hearing. “Making $82,000 a year is an absolute insult to the people you represent.” Republican Assembly member Jay Webber said Monday during a debate on the floor that he wouldn’t accept the pay raise if he’s still in the Legislature if the measure is approved. Webber said he opposed the measure, in part, because constituents couldn’t vote themselves a pay raise if they wanted to. The legislation also increases the governor’s salary from $175,000 to $210,000 annually and boosts the top rate for Cabinet and other top officials to $210,000 from $175,000 as well. It also boosts the amount lawmakers get specifically to pay their staff, from $135,000 to $150,000. Legislators, unlike in some other states, don’t get a per diem rate or car mileage reimbursements. Democrats expanded their majority in last year’s legislative election, netting seven new seats. The new session that takes office Tuesday will have 52 Democrats and 28 Republicans in the Assembly. In the Senate, Democrats will hold a 25-15 seat edge over the GOP. Just how much the measure would cost taxpayers wasn’t clear. A fiscal note, typically added to legislation that could increase the state budget, was listed as “not currently available” on the Legislature’s site. New Jersey‘s Legislature is considered part-time, meeting regularly from January to June and typically taking time off over the summer and in the lead-up to elections before returning for a lame duck session. Voters had mixed views on the pay hike. Some thought it was fair, inline with their belief that all work should be adequately compensated. “You should pay people for what they’re worth,” said Arthur K. Brown, 56, who was waiting at a bus stop Monday in Trenton. “If these people are working, you wan them to get better, I think give them money.” Michael Ray, 71, a trumpet player who works at an audio-visual studio in Trenton, objected to the salary increase. “I don’t think they need any more money,” he said. “I’m not for it. Everybody’s broke.” Just a few blocks from the statehouse where the vote unfolded, Ray cast a glance toward the building and said he knows lawmakers typically wait till the last minute to pass a budget. “It’s a travesty,” he said. Terrence Brown, 53, a janitor on his way to work and waiting at the same station as Arthur K. Brown — no relation — did not begrudge the legislators seeking a pay raise. Pay increases should be more widely given, he said. “Everybody deserves a raise, not just them,” he said.

Defense Secretary Austin remains hospitalized, in ‘good spirits,’ Pentagon says despite uproar over absence

Defense Secretary Austin remains hospitalized, in ‘good spirits,’ Pentagon says despite uproar over absence

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remains hospitalized but is recovering and is in “good spirits,” despite the uproar over the non-disclosure of his hospital stay for several days, the Pentagon said Monday.  Austin was admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, on Jan. 1 for severe pain following a Dec. 22, 2023 elective procedure.  “He is no longer in the intensive care unit but is recovering in a more private area of the hospital,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement. “He continues to experience discomfort, but his prognosis is good.”  DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN HAS NO PLANS TO RESIGN, PENTAGON SAYS “Since resuming duties on Friday evening, the secretary has received operational updates and has provided necessary guidance,” Ryder added. “He has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor [Defense Department] day-to-day operations worldwide.”  The day after Austin was admitted to the hospital, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks assumed partial duties from the secretary. On Jan. 4, Hicks and the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan were told of Austin’s hospitalization, the Pentagon said.  GOP SENATORS OUTRAGED OVER ‘SHOCKING BREAKDOWN’ RELATED TO DEFENSE SEC LLOYD AUSTIN’S SECRET HOSPITALIZATION Austin assumed his full secretarial duties on Friday. Since then, he has received operational updates and remains in contact with his staff, Ryder said. He also took an operational update from the U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Erik Kurilla along with Deputy Secretary Hicks and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, Jr. “I expect him to be in contact throughout the day today with senior leadership of the department and the White House even as he focuses on his own recovery,” Ryder said. “We in the department, of course, all wish him a speedy recovery,” Ryder said. Ryder said a specific date for Austin’s release from the hospital has not been determined. President Biden, the National Security Council and top Pentagon leaders – including Hicks, were kept in the dark for days that Austin had been taken to the hospital’s intensive care unit for treatment on New Year’s. Some congressional lawmakers have called for Austin to resign over the matter.  Earlier on Monday, Ryder said Austin’s chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, didn’t inform the White House about Austin’s hospitalization because she had been sick with the flu.  The secretary doesn’t have plans to step down, the Pentagon said.