'Haley voters took that personally': Reporter says Trump may have sabotaged himself
David Drucker, a reporter at the conservative publication The Dispatch, told The New Republic's Greg Sargent this week that former President Donald Trump may have sabotaged himself when he went on a tirade against his former rival's donors.
Sargent interviewed Drucker to discuss former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley's surprisingly strong showing in this week's Indiana Republican primary, where she received 22 percent of the vote despite the fact that she dropped out of the race two months ago.
Drucker acknowledged that while he would normally expect most of these voters to eventually come back to supporting Trump, he said that conversations he's had with some of them led him to believe they may stay home this fall even if they don't vote for President Joe Biden.
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"When Donald Trump famously said, I think it was in January, I think it was really directed at Haley donors, 'Hey if you're giving to Haley, we don't want you, you're not welcome in MAGA,' a lot of Haley voters took that personally," he said. "Maybe because they don't like Trump to begin with, what they heard was, 'You don't want me? Well, guess what, I don't want you.'"
Drucker went on to argue that these voters now feel unwanted not just by Trump but by the party as a whole.
"That's something the Trump campaign needs to worry about," he said. "We talk a lot about Joe Biden's coalition pressures. This is one particular coalition pressure that Donald Trump has is suburban, traditional conservative that Mike Pence assured and made feel comfortable in 2016."
Of course, Pence has refused to endorse Trump in the 2024 election and his vice presidency infamously ended with Trump supporters chanting for his hanging after they violently stormed the United States Capitol building on January 6th, 2021.