Why Trump Isn't Attacking Nikki Haley's Top Supporter in Congress

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

81% : As the congressman recalled, Trump said it was "kind of surprising."
80% : But Trump seemed to make clear that there were no hard feelings, telling the South Carolina Republican that he "had a great family" and was "very nice" during their conversation.
61% : Norman's loyalty and likeability has served him well in preserving his relationship with Trump, too.
60% : Their relationship is especially notable given that Haley has rankled many former allies over the years -- and nearly the entire state GOP establishment is supporting Trump.
57% : Norman said Trump was surprised when Norman called him last year to say that he would be backing Haley.
45% : "The South Carolina Republican's otherwise unblemished record of support for Trump seems to be an effective shield back home against the blowback his endorsement might otherwise trigger.
44% : "Trump did the right things.
39% : So far, in advance of the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary, he's faced little blowback from Trump and his allies.
39% : Norman based his case for Haley around the fact that she can serve two terms, whereas Trump can only serve one.
38% : Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, who went so far as to publicly suggest Trump as a potential speaker during weeks of dissension after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster in the fall of 2023, enthused, "Ralph Norman's a hell of a nice guy.
37% : "DeSantis wasn't just trying to defeat Trump and displace him as the Republican nominee," the operative said.
35% : He reflected on when Trump lobbied him when he was one of the remaining holdouts who refused to back McCarthy as speaker throughout the course of repeated ballots in January 2023.
34% : Few Republican politicians who have bucked Donald Trump have lived to tell the tale.
31% : A combination of his own impeccable MAGA credentials, transparency and the fact that the Trump campaign is just not all that threatened by Haley -- not only because of her lower polling numbers, but because she isn't pursuing the America First mantle claimed by Trump.
28% : Of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, eight did not return to Congress in 2023.
28% : A successful septuagenarian real estate developer like Trump, Norman is a Freedom Caucus member who stood by the former president in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, even urging Trump to declare "Marshall Law" in a text to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in 2021.
28% : But the South Carolina Republican looked askance at the idea that Trump was particularly prone to holding grudges.
26% : "There was a caveat, however -- that Trump does and should hold grudges for his legal issues.
24% : [a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes on whose behalf Trump intervened after a conviction by a court martial].
23% : "In Norman's view, Trump "doesn't hold grudges.
19% : Besides, Trump told Norman, Haley -- who was polling at 2 percent at the time -- was "not going to be competition.
17% : "Norman said he has not spoken to Trump since backing Haley, but indicated he would call the former president regardless of the result when the primary was over.
14% : "Norman contrasted his stance with other unnamed Republicans who backed Trump simply because they were scared the former president would make a mean comment or back a primary challenge against them if they opposed him.
13% : "She served our country but she's not Donald Trump.
8% : Rob Godfrey, a longtime South Carolina political operative, said that "for all of the people in Washington who have tortured relationships with Donald Trump, Ralph is not one. ...
5% : The closest Norman came to offering any criticism of Trump was mildly echoing the critique that Haley has repeatedly offered of the former president as too old for the job.
4% : "Norman dismissed Haley's recent criticism of Trump as "unstable and unhinged" as mere political rhetoric.
2% : Recent polling suggests that Haley is running far behind Trump in her and Norman's home state, but if that should change, or if she continues to sharpen her attacks on Trump, Norman could quickly find himself caught in the crossfire.
1% : Perhaps nowhere have these harsh reprisals been clearer than in South Carolina,where former Republican Gov. Mark Sanford lost a House bid in 2018 after criticizing Trump and where Trump-backed challenger Russell Fry unseated Republican Rep. Tom Rice after Rice voted to impeach the former president for the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.

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