Washington, Nov 29 (PTI): Indian-American Nikki Haley received a big boost towards her presidential ambition as she landed an endorsement from powerful conservative money bags Koch brother-backed American for Prosperity network.
The influential Americans for Prosperity super-PAC on Tuesday said it is endorsing Haley, 51, for president and she is best positioned to beat former president Donald Trump in the primary elections and incumbent President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential elections.
"AFP Action is proud to throw our full support behind Nikki Haley, who offers America the opportunity to turn the page on the current political era, to win the Republican primary and defeat Joe Biden next November. Haley will have the full weight and scope of AFP Action's unmatched grassroots army and resources to help her earn the support of Americans to become the next President of the United States of America," said Emily Seidel, senior adviser of the group, in a memo.
In a statement, Haley said, "I am honoured to have the support of Americans for Prosperity Action, including its millions of grassroots members all across the country." "AFP Action's members know that there is too much at stake in this election to sit on the sidelines. This is a choice between freedom and socialism, individual liberty and big government, fiscal responsibility and spiralling debt. We have a country to save, and I am grateful to have AFP Action by our side," the Republican presidential candidate said.
Notably, Trump continues to be the leading candidate by far in all the opinion polls among Republican primary voters. However, in several opinion polls, Haley, a two-term former governor of South Carolina and former US Ambassador to the UN, is seen defeating Biden in a hypothetical poll.
"AFP Action's endorsement will put thousands of AFP Action activists and grassroots leaders into the field — with a focus on the early primary states — knocking on doors and urging voters to support Nikki Haley. Additionally, in the coming days, we will launch extensive mail, digital, and connected television campaigns to supplement those on-the-ground efforts," the memo said.
It said Haley has a long track record of empowering people with more freedom and opportunity and supporting policies that favour competition over control.
"As Governor, Haley's work to expand education opportunities, improve access and lower costs in our healthcare system, and protect freedom and flexibility in our workforce shows she shares our belief that the solutions to our most pressing challenges lie in free people - not heavy-handed government. While we don't agree with anyone on every issue, Nikki Haley, by far, offers the best opportunity to improve the lives of all Americans," the memo said.
"The foremost challenge confronting our nation, affecting every American, is the economy. Nikki Haley presents a bold and robust strategy to tackle the inflation that is making everything more expensive for American families - addressing the out-of-control government spending and simplifying the tax code to benefit the American people rather than special interests. Simultaneously, she has the courage to advocate for reforms to an entitlement system that makes promises it can't keep," it added.
Seidel said up until this point there have been several candidates that could lead the country forward but their data has now pointed towards Haley as someone who could both lead and win.
"As voters have gotten to know more about her, her favourable ratings, as well as her ballot share, has only increased," AFP senior adviser Michael Palmer told reporters.
"In these early states and then particularly going into South Carolina and Super Tuesday, it is much easier to define or to craft a narrative around a blank slate which people don't know about versus a book that's already written, which is the case with Donald Trump and also the case to a certain extent with Governor DeSantis," Palmer said.
According to The Washington Post, Haley has gained momentum in the Republican primary and has in many ways surpassed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the top alternative to Trump.
"She is pitching herself as the most capable general election candidate, with some polls showing her outperforming rivals against President Biden," The Daily reported.
The rival DeSantis campaign described AFP's decision as an endorsement of Trump.
"Every dollar spent on Nikki Haley's candidacy should be reported as an in-kind to the Trump campaign. No one has a stronger record of beating the establishment than Ron DeSantis, and this time will be no different," DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo said in a statement.
Former New Jersey governor and GOP presidential aspirant Chris Christie said he doesn't think voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are going to give a darn who the Koch brothers support.
"They are going to decide who they want to support by listening to us on the ground, in their living rooms, in their schools, in their cafeterias, where we're all campaigning regularly," he told Fox News in an interview.
In a statement, Democratic National Committee national press secretary Sarafina Chitika said it is no surprise that the Koch network, architects of Trump's MAGAnomics agenda, found their match in Haley, who checks all of their boxes -- slashing taxes for the ultra-wealthy, gutting social security and medicare, and ripping healthcare away from millions of Americans. PTI LKJ DIV DIV
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)