'They're just jealous': Nikki Haley replies to candidates accusations that she's owned by donors

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called her fellow GOP candidates jealous that her donors are supporting her instead of them at the fourth GOP presidential primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

During the Wednesday broadcast, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy both accused Haley of being bought out by leaders of Wall Street heavyweights like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock.

Ramaswamy said Haley has proven she is 'bankrupt' and that she sold out to corporations for financial gain when profited on the board of Boeing before her resignation in 2020.

"That math does not add up, it adds up to the fact that you are corrupt," Ramaswamy said. "So I think that this is far more corrupt than I even imagined when I entered politics."

Haley quickly rejected Ramaswamy's comments that she is morally bankrupt and clarified that she left Boeing because of an opposition to a corporate bailout.

"There's nothing to what he's saying," Haley said. "And in terms of these donors that are supporting me, they're just jealous and wish that they were supporting them.''

DeSantis and Ramaswamy both accused Haley of being bought out by ESG (environmental, social, governance) principles, which she rejected.

The Florida governor said Haley is allowing her donors to use their economic power to impose a left-wing agenda and that they want "to change society without having to go through the constitutional process." He then mentioned Florida yanking $2 billion worth of state assets out BlackRock in late 2022 to kneecap the investment company.

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"The fact of the matter is, we know from her history, Nikki will cave to those big donors when it counts," DeSantis said.

Ramaswamy said Haley read his "Woke Inc." book intended to warn people about the industrial complex as a How To manual. He criticized Haley's comments in a FOX News interview that social media companies should verify every user and call her a fascist.

Haley responded that as a mom she believes identifying social media accounts would make her feel safe against cyberbullies, child pornography and foreign bots.

"I love all the attention. Fellas, thank you for that. I'll say that's what I said was it social media companies need to show us their algorithms," Haley said. "I will always fight for freedom of speech for Americans. We do not make freedom of speech for Russians and Iranians and Hamas. We know media companies to go and lie back on all these thoughts that are happening."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nikki Haley calls Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy jealous of donors