(NewsNation) — As the Republican presidential candidate field shrinks, the feud between former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy grows stronger.
The 2024 presidential primaries are just months away, and the race for the White House is heating up. Candidates on the campaign trail are ramping up attacks on their competitors, creating rivals out of one another.
Some of these attacks seem more personal than others, including the tiff between Haley, 51, and Ramaswamy, 38.
Both candidates have been vying for the second-place spot behind former President Donald Trump, hoping to get the chance to dethrone him for the Republican nomination during the primary election.
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Haley has grown a notable base of support over time, threatening DeSantis to become the race’s second-most-popular candidate according to the latest polling.
Ramaswamy polled poorly in the early phase of the campaign but shot up the ranks after a shocking first debate performance. While he has lost ground to other candidates since, Ramaswamy is still in the running for the nomination with significant grassroots support.
Ramaswamy and Haley have frequently feuded in recent debates, culminating with Haley calling Ramaswamy “scum” after he attacked her daughter for using TikTok, the video-sharing app many Republicans want to ban due to its links to China. Ramawamy’s response to Haley prompted boos from the audience at the debate.
At the end of the debate, the two candidates did not shake hands, as virtually all other candidates did.
Ramaswamy has also attacked Haley’s foreign policy stances, trying to use it to slow her growing popularity in the polls, USA Today reported. But the former governor fought back against him, standing her ground.
The two have split political views on foreign affairs, including stances on the wars in Israel and Ukraine, and other top issues like abortion. Haley has campaigned herself as a more moderate Republican option, while Ramaswamy has leaned more to the conservative side of the party, nicknamed the “CEO of Anti-Woke, Inc.” for going against what he considers the Left’s “woke” stances.
Haley is currently polling at an average of 10%, while Ramaswamy remains just below 5%, according to polling from FiveThirtyEight.
All eyes will be on the two for the fourth presidential debate, which NewsNation will host.
The Associated Press and The Hill contributed to this report.