A TV ad from a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primary uses out-of-context quotes from Nikki Haley to misleadingly claim that Hillary Clinton, the former Democratic presidential nominee, is Haley’s “role model.”
The ad also says in words on the screen, “Nikki’s not who she says,” but the comments it refers to are no secret. In numerous interviews over the years, Haley — a former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — has told the story of how something Clinton said long ago about not listening to naysayers convinced Haley to first run for public office in South Carolina. She did not make the decision because she shared Clinton’s politics, as the ad may lead viewers to believe.
In fact, the ad uses clips that were edited to omit parts of those interviews where Haley said she does not agree with Clinton on “anything” or “a lot.”
Fight Right Inc., a group recently formed to support DeSantis, has spent more than $200,000 to air the anti-Haley ad in Iowa since Nov. 23, according to AdImpact, a service that tracks political advertising. The Iowa caucuses, the first nominating contest in the Republican presidential primary, will be held Jan. 15.