Why Vivek Ramaswamy says his TikTok attack about Nikki Haley's daughter wasn't personal

Their fiery exchange went viral, but presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says he doubts he turned off voters when he berated opponent Nikki Haley during the third Republican debate, telling her to "take care of her family first."

Several Iowa voters agreed.

During Nov. 8 debate, Ramaswamy took exception to Haley's criticism of his use of TikTok, telling her that her own daughter used TikTok and Haley should "take care of her family first."

Haley shot back: "Keep my daughter out of your voice … you're just scum."

Ramaswamy spoke of the heated exchange after a campaign stop Nov. 20 in Grinnell, Iowa.

"That criticism was of Nikki Haley, not her daughter. Remember, the point was her daughter and I are both on TikTok," Ramaswamy said. "Nikki Haley is on the wrong side of a generational divide, sanctimoniously spouting off about it."

Ramaswamy and Haley have been in an escalating feud, which boiled over with those remarks at the third debate. His campaign took advantage of Haley’s dig, selling “Rebel Scum” T-shirts at events.

But Ramaswamy said his criticism of Haley is not personal, even though during the debate, Ramaswamy also called Haley "Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels," referring to the former vice president.

"She reflects the other side of an ideological divide in the GOP," Ramaswamy said. "She represents the Dick Cheney world view. I reflect the view of the future in this country first."

Ramaswamy's supporters at his campaign events Monday agreed with him that he did not cross a line when he attacked Haley at the debate.

Ric Johnson, 65, of Brandon, Iowa, said before a Ramaswamy stop at an Independence Pizza Ranch that what offends one person may not offend everyone. Johnson was fine with the attack on Haley’s daughter, he said.

“It’s a tightrope that they have to walk,” Johnson said. “It didn’t offend me personally.”

David Turner, 67, of Tama saw Ramaswamy speak Aug. 31. He went to a Mexican restaurant in Toledo Monday night to see Ramaswamy speak again.

Turner, who is retiring from a federal government job on Dec. 31, said he liked Ramaswamy’s performance in the Nov. 8 debate. Turner thought Ramaswamy’s attack on Haley’s daughter was fair.

“I think Vivek probably stirred the pot a little bit more,” Turner said. “You can’t say something, say this is the position I take, and then it’s inside you’re family,” he said of Haley.

Liked by supporters, but struggling in the polls

Ramaswamy was scheduled to speak at more than two dozen events during Thanksgiving week in Iowa as his campaign increasingly pins their hopes on Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Ramaswamy will stay in Des Moines for Thanksgiving and run in the Des Moines Turkey Trot.

In the October Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, 4% of likely Republican caucusgoers named Ramaswamy as their first choice. The percentage of respondents who had an unfavorable view of Ramaswamy rose to 37%, up from 20% in August's poll — even as the percentage of those who viewed him favorably rose from 38% to 43%.

Ramaswamy rented a Des Moines apartment and moved his campaign headquarters from Ohio to Des Moines and New Hampshire.

"I can win this because Iowa goes first,"'" Ramaswamy told a crowd of more than 50 people at a Grinnell public library. "Speaking with the voice of a million people because Iowa goes first."

Former Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz, Ramaswamy's Iowa co-chair, told the Grinnell crowd he endorsed Rick Santorum when the president candidate polled at 3% before he won the 2012 caucuses. In 2016, Schultz served as Ted Cruz' Iowa chair when Cruz won the Republican caucuses.

"We'll see if the magic is still there," Schultz told the crowd in Grinnell. "I'm hoping that we don't just win the Iowa Caucus, but we win the presidency."

But Ramaswamy's campaign has shown signs that it is still struggling to gain traction.

Ten minutes before Vivek Ramaswamy was to take the stage in a casino hotel in western Iowa, no one was in the conference room except for two staffers from the Iowa GOP, which organized the event, and a group of journalists. Still, by the time Ramaswamy began his remarks an hour later, there were about 60 people.

“If viability were the reason to stay in a race, he’s long since left that behind,” said David Kochel, a Republican strategist who advised Jeb Bush in his 2016 presidential bid told the Associated Press. “If you like Vivek Ramaswamy and what he is saying in this campaign, you already have a candidate, and his name is Donald Trump.”

Similar scenes played out Monday when Ramaswamy held events in Dubuque, Manchester, Independence, Vinton, Toledo and Grinnell. A small room at a Pizza Ranch in Independence was mostly empty minutes before its scheduled 1:15 p.m. start time as restaurant employees brought out pizza.

Likewise, an event at a Toledo Mexican restaurant was mostly empty minutes before its 5 p.m. start time. But events on Monday ran more than 30 minutes late, and at both places eventually had more than 50 attendees.

A Vinton event was packed with more than 100 people more than 30 minutes early and the Grinnell event was packed to standing capacity more than 20 minutes early.

Johnson loves Ramaswamy, but Trump is his first choice for president.

“I believe in the bottom of my heart that we are going to be in the presence of a man who will one day be the president,” Johnson said before the event. “I have no doubt about that.”

Turner caucused for Cruz in the 2016 campaign cycle but thought Trump followed through on his campaign promises more than any other president in his lifetime.

Like Johnson, Turner likes Ramaswamy, but he likes Trump more. Turner would like to see Ramaswamy become Trump’s running mate, he said.

“He’s young, he’s articulate. He has a lot of really good ideas, Turner said. “Based on what I’ve seen, I would rather have him around.”

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Vivek Ramaswamy says in Iowa his feud with Nikki Haley isn't personal