Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s 22-year-old son is going to bat for her after former 2024 rival Vivek Ramaswamy downplayed her primary win in Washington, D.C.
Haley secured all 19 of Washington, D.C.’s Republican delegates on Sunday, winning just under 63% of the vote.
The win marks Haley’s first victory, however it does not change the trajectory of the race—with former President Donald Trump having won every other GOP primary so far.
“Republicans closest to Washington’s dysfunction know that Donald Trump has brought nothing but chaos and division for the past 8 years,” Haley wrote in a post thanking D.C. Republican voters. “It’s time to start winning again and move our nation forward!”
In it, Haley also became the first woman to ever win a Republican primary.
Trump distanced himself from the loss in a Truth Social post Sunday night, saying that he “purposely stayed away from the D.C. Vote because it is the ‘Swamp,’ with very few delegates, and no upside.”
“Birdbrain spent all of her time, money and effort there,” Trump continued, invoking his mocking nickname for Haley. “Over the weekend we won Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan – BIG NUMBERS – Complete destruction of a very weak opponent. The really big numbers will come on Super Tuesday. Also, WAY UP ON CROOKED JOE!”
Critics of Haley have echoed the former president’s comments about the D.C. primary, with people including Glenn Greenwald arguing the D.C. win shows she is the “favorite GOP candidate of corporate media and Dems.”
Vivek Ramaswamy—the 38-year-old entrepreneur-turned-presidential candidate who dropped out and endorsed Trump in January—offered a similar critique.
“The one primary she wins is where the swamp *is* the electorate,” Ramaswamy said. “She’d really like to thank her core constituency of defense contractors, overpaid consultants, and the permanent political class.”
Ramaswamy’s comments drew the ire of Nalin Haley, who in turn took a dig at Ramaswamy for not winning a primary election. (Ramaswamy dropped out after the first primary contest in Iowa, where he received 7.7% of the vote, good for fourth place.)
“You’re right, the primary you won was way more credible…oh wait,” Nalin Haley wrote.
“Btw u owe over six figures to the sound crew u used for your events and ur months late on ur payments so either ur not as rich as u say u are or ur refusing to pay them,” he added. “Either way pretty messed up.”
It is unclear what payments Nalin Haley could be referencing as Federal Election Commission records show Ramaswamy’s only campaign debt as the $27 million he loaned himself.
There are no independent media reports of Ramaswamy owing money to events staff. His campaign, however, was sued by a New Hampshire landlord who alleged the campaign broke its lease and owes $50,000 in rent.