- South Carolina holds its Republican presidential primary on Saturday
- Nikki Haley outspent Donald Trump on advertising in her home state by more than 14 to 1
- Polls ahead of the South Carolina primary showed Haley trailing by double digits
If political advertising won the election, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley would be running completely against Donald Trump in South Carolina. But it doesn't.
Haley and supporting groups outspent the former GOP president nearly 15 to 1 ahead of Saturday's first primary contest in the South. They poured about $15 million into ad buys, while Trump's campaign and support groups spent just a fraction of that, at just over $1 million.
But in the days leading up to the primary, the former president was ahead of Haley by double digits in polls. The USA Today/Suffolk poll of likely Republican primary voters showed Trump at 63 percent in her home state, while Haley was at 35 percent.
On Friday, Haley argued that the goal of the contest was to be “competitive.” She campaigned the entire state much more intensely than Trump did while making her closing argument: The United States can't have more of the same with Presidents Biden and Trump. She has also stepped up her attacks on the former Republican president, and the closing ads for Haley reflect that.
In a 30-second Haley campaign spot running in South Carolina television markets, images of Trump and Biden are shown while a narrator says, “When your country is divided, your president must unite us.” Images of Haley are shown shown. The narrator continues, “She ran to revitalize our state, she did it.” It ends with Haley saying she's running for a “strong” and “proud” America.
The pro-Haley super PAC SFA Fund Inc. also ran ads in the state using excerpts from Haley's recent “State of the Race” speech, in which she called Trump “crazy.”
If South Carolina viewers watched just one hour of prime-time television, they were likely exposed to a barrage of Haley commercials that were often repeated.
Haley's final message in her South Carolina campaign ad is that she is running for a “strong” and “proud” America. The pro-Haley super PAC SFA Fund Inc. has also run ads using excerpts from her “State of the Race” speech, in which she called Trump “unstable” and “unhinged.”
Trump has run ads in South Carolina targeting Haley over Social Security. It's the same ad his campaign aired in New Hampshire. The campaign will also air ads across the country criticizing Haley on immigration
Trump held a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on the eve of the South Carolina primary, where polls show him leading by double digits
Haley is campaigning in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Friday. Her closing argument is that she can win the general election, but Trump can't
While Trump also aired commercials in South Carolina before the primaries, as he did during his campaign appearances in the state, the commercials were seen much less often.
His campaign's ad targeted Haley over entitlement reform and accused her of wanting to cut Social Security. A clip was used of Haley talking about the need to change the retirement age. The same ad previously aired in New Hampshire.
Trump also attacked Haley over immigration in an ad that aired nationally. In it, the narrator criticizes Haley as “too weak to protect America” while claiming Trump will.
Because Haley has vowed to keep fighting no matter what happens in the South Carolina primary, she has continued to push ad buying in future primaries.
Her campaign recently ran an ad in Michigan, where the primary election is February 27. In it, Haley appears in front of the camera and calls for a “new generation” and a “new conservative president.”
On Friday, her campaign also announced a seven-figure ad buy across all Super Tuesday states, including ads on cable television and digital platforms. Voters in 16 states go to the polls on Super Tuesday, March 5, when 874 delegates are up for grabs.
“As we look at the path ahead, we know this is an uphill battle, we know the path is difficult, we know the math is challenging,” Betsy Ankney, Haley’s campaign manager, said in one Call announcing future ad buys with reporters. But she said it's never just about winning a Republican primary, but about who can defeat Democrats in November.