Tucker Carlson Claims Nikki Haley Is ‘Puppet’ for Democrats

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson speaks at the Turning Point Action USA conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 15, 2023. Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

Democrats are increasingly backing GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley who is serving as the party’s “puppet,” former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has claimed.

Mr. Carlson made the comments in a video alongside Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy which was published on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Jan. 3.

“You thought Democrats were going to dump [President Joe] Biden for [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom, but they’re not. They’re backing Nikki Haley instead,” Mr. Carlson wrote in a post alongside the roughly seven-minute video.

The host began the video by referring to the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations as “a Republican candidate who’s actually a Democrat.”

He went on to state that President Biden’s poor polling performance in recent months makes it a “tough moment” for Democratic mega-donors.

Mr. Carlson then said Democratic donors are increasingly turning to Ms. Haley, whose campaign raised $24 million between October and December and who has received recent major endorsements from New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Americans for Prosperity Action, which is backed by billionaire Charles Koch.

“So what do you do? Well, if you’re smart, maybe you subvert the other party. Maybe you back a Republican candidate who’s actually a Democrat, whose priorities are identical to yours. And of course, they found one, her name is Nikki Haley,” he said, before highlighting what he said were her “endless neocon wars.”

‘Trojan Horse’

“Strip away all the outward characteristics, and Nikki Haley is identical in her priorities to Joe Biden and the people who back Joe Biden,” he said.

Mr. Carlson then shared a video of Ms. Haley during a town hall in Davenport, Iowa, in October.

During the campaign event, the former South Carolina governor claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the Hamas incursion of Israel on Oct. 7 and that Russian intelligence had helped aid the attack, which had simultaneously taken attention off the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict.

Tech entrepreneur Mr. Ramaswamy then weighed in on Mr. Carlson’s claims, concurring with the TV host that Ms. Haley is a “puppet” for the Democratic Party, and branding her a “Trojan horse.”

However, Mr. Ramaswamy argued that Ms. Haley is garnering bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats alike.

“I think the true puppet masters, the thing about them, is they’re fundamentally nonpartisan in nature,” the businessman said. “There are a few things they care about: Keeping the foreign war machine humming is high on the list. Keeping the administrative state’s control of the United States is also high on the list. They found a much more convenient puppet within the Republican Party itself.”

Former U.N. Ambassador and 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign town hall event in Lebanon, N.H., on Dec. 28, 2023. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

‘2-Person Race’ Between Haley, Trump

“It’s not Biden, and it’s not even Gavin Newsom. It’s Nikki Haley within the Republican Party itself,” he continued. “And I think that that makes for a very convenient front man because then they actually have absolved themselves from any allegations of partisanship or Democratic partisanship against [former President] Donald Trump.”

Mr. Ramaswamy concluded that it is now “crystal clear” that the “bipartisan system” wants to narrow the GOP presidential race down to just two candidates: former President Trump and Ms. Haley.

The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for Ms. Haley’s campaign for comment.

Polls show Ms. Haley in second in New Hampshire and a close third in Iowa behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Trump, who continues to maintain a significant lead over his rivals.

After unveiling her strong campaign fundraising operation on Wednesday, Ms. Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney said in a statement that the Republican presidential race “is a two-person race between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump.”

“Nikki is the only Trump alternative with the voter support, the operation, and the resources to go the distance,” the statement continued. “Our momentum continues to build as we head into 2024.”

Jackson Richman contributed to this report.