(NewsNation) — The 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls are working to gain momentum in Iowa just two weeks out from the crucial caucuses.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley spoke to voters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Saturday as she gains momentum and draws attention from her GOP opponents.
Haley is hoping to beat former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, but Trump still leads the rest of the field by over 30 points in Iowa.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says Haley is playing for number two.
“She’s supposedly the darling of the ‘never Trumpers’ and yet she won’t say definitively that she would not, under any circumstances, accept the VP slot from Trump,” DeSantis said.
Trump didn’t waste any time distancing himself from Haley, sending out an email criticizing tax increases under Haley, saying her record as governor has been “exposed.”
“Nikki Haley’s shameful record as governor has now been exposed, and voters are witnessing who she really is,” Trump’s campaign said in an email.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy told NewsNation’s Natasha Zouves his campaign is attracting voters who have never caucused before.
“The polls are dead off,” he said on “NewsNation Prime.” While Haley has seen positive momentum, Ramaswamy has struggled to escape single digit numbers. His campaign also raised eyebrows by punting on TV ads this week.
“I think we’re going to deliver a major shock on Jan. 15” he told NewsNation. He also criticized Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for ruling that Trump should not appear on the state’s primary ballot. Bellows says the final decision is up to the state’s supreme court.
The former president will be back in Iowa next week as he continues to fight legal battles.
Though the criminal cases against Trump seem to be bolstering support for his campaign, his GOP opponents say they would pardon him if he were convicted.
“I would pardon Trump. A leader needs to think about what’s in the best interest of the country, and what’s in the best interest of the country is not to have an 80-year-old man sitting in jail, that continues to divide our country,” Haley said in Cedar Rapids. “What’s in the best interest of the country would be to pardon him so that we can move on as a country and no longer talk about him.”