Here's How GOP Candidate Nikki Haley Hit Back When Donald Trump Said She's "Not Tough Enough"

Nikki Haley and Donald Trump are the Republican party's most famous GOP candidates who often lock horns with each other. Although Haley's campaign doesn't directly focus on attacking the former president, the latter doesn't spare his rivals. So, when he called the 51-year-old "not tough enough," she fired right back at him. 

Ahead of the January 15 caucus, the former South Carolina governor's ex-boss called her out for her lack of "toughness." However, she took her GOP rival's comments in her stride and highlighted his own insecurities, claiming that Trump didn't believe she'd be his competition in the nomination race, per CNN. 

Haley told CNN's correspondent Dana Bash on Sunday, January 14, 2024, "Everybody that's ever worked for me or worked with me, no one ever questions my toughness. He's saying this because now he knows he's in trouble. Now he knows this is becoming a two-person race. So I know that he knows the truth. It doesn't bother me at all." 

In fact, she found it "comical" because back when she served as United Nation's ambassador in Trump's administration, he would warn people of her. Haley recalled, "When I was at the UN, he always used to tell people, 'Don't mess with her. She's tough." 

Apparently, during Iowa Town Hall, a journalist asked the ex-president about his frequent criticism of Haley and why he thinks her comments are dangerous and naive. He attacked, "She's a globalist. I am a MAGA (Make America Great Again) person. She's even getting a lot of money from the globalists, and globalists are not good for our country." 

Additionally, he criticized, "I know Nikki very well. She had a lot of weaknesses. I don't think Nikki is strong enough to be a president. I know her better than anybody." He emphasized, "She's ok," but not a qualifying candidate to become the president of the United States in the upcoming 2024 elections. 

Meanwhile, recent polls have proved Haley has emerged as the strong contender against Trump in the GOP race. Although the twice-impeached president has maintained his dominance in Iowa as well as the national polls, she's the second favored candidate, likely to win as the nominee. 

The latest Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll revealed that 48% of likely caucusgoers said they'd go for Trump, 20% support Haley, and 16% DeSantis, with the rest of the field below 10%. The 77-year-old's commanding lead over the key battleground states is giving tough time to his Republican rivals. 

Unfazed by the numbers, the former UN ambassador addressed a crowd-filled room only miles from Iowa State University in freezing cold temperatures. "This is truly cold," began Haley. "But we're going to keep on going anywhere and everywhere. We're going to go all the way until the last hour because we know what situation we're in."

She continued, "I think President Trump was the right president at the right time. I agree with a lot of his policies. But rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him," per The Guardian. "And we can't be a country in disarray in a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won't survive it."