Haley to Scott: ‘Bring it, Tim!’ SC Republicans fire shots at one another in heated GOP debate

For the first time publicly, the two South Carolina Republicans bidding for the White House took sharp aim at one another Wednesday night, on a GOP debate stage that lacked no drama.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, who appointed Scott to the Senate a decade ago, directly confronted one another after Scott was asked why he would make a better executive of the nation than Haley.

Scott said he wanted to constrain government spending and grow the economy, specifically in the energy sector and in manufacturing.

“We can bring jobs back to America in a similar fashion that we did when I wrote the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” Scott said.

But Haley said Scott wasn’t ready for a promotion to the Oval Office.

“I appreciate Tim, but he’s been there 12 years and he hasn’t done any of that,” Haley said. “They (Congress) have only given four budgets on time in 40 years, and he’s a part of that. He increased the national debt, he voted for the spending.”

Scott punched at Haley for supporting a gas tax increase in South Carolina, which Haley had agreed to support if there was a corresponding income tax cut. Within minutes, the exchange had devolved into insults over the $52,000 curtains that hung in Haley’s residence as ambassador to the United Nations in the Donald Trump administration, a topic of controversy from five years ago. The curtains had been purchased during the Obama administration, prior to Haley’s tenure.

“Did you send them back?” Scott said.

“Did you send them back? You’re the one who works in Congress,” Haley responded.

The fireworks came at the tail end of the two-hour debate in Simi Valley, California, where seven GOP White House hopefuls took the stage together, at times speaking over one another. Haley and Scott were joined by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

They all searched for a breakout moment, and early in the debate, Scott made it clear he did not want to be lost in the background after what was generally considered a mild performance in the first Republican debate a month earlier. By the end of the night, Scott had racked up the third-most speaking time among the candidates, with 10 minutes and 42 seconds, according to the New York Times.

Scott took on Ramaswamy for a comment the billionaire entrepreneur had made during the first debate about candidates being bought and paid for.

“You know, I can’t imagine how you could say that knowing that you are just in business with the Chinese Communist Party, and the same people that funded Hunter Biden and millions of dollars was a partner of yours as well,” Scott said during his exchange with Ramaswamy, one of numerous feisty exchanges inside a Ronald Reagan Library where the topics of economy and immigration loomed large.

“These are people who are tainted by a broken system,” Ramaswamy responded as Scott tried to talk over him.

Scott received the first question of the night, which was about the ongoing autoworkers’ strike. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden joined the picket line.

“Joe Biden should not be on the picket line. He should be on the southern border working to close our southern border because unsafe, wide open and insecure,” Scott said.

It was a stage that again did not have the race front runner. Former President Donald Trump did not attend the debate and instead spoke to Michigan autoworkers.

Haley, who was lauded for her first debate performance, again had fiery moments and was prepared to punch back when attacks were targeted against her.

“Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber,” Haley said to Ramaswamy after he spoke about efforts to reach young voters by being on TikTok, an app that is feared to be sharing private data with the Chinese government.

Ramaswamy said he wants people with different points of view advising him, no matter their age.

“That’s how I built my companies. I want to be challenged. I want people who disagree with me,” Ramaswamy said.

When it came to the migrant crisis on the southern border, Haley blamed Biden for allowing people to cross the border, saying it has led to fentanyl coming into the country and leading to deaths.

Haley, who had 9 minutes and 5 seconds of speaking time, called for adding 25,000 more border patrol and ICE agents to control illegal immigration, stopping federal money from going to sanctuary cities, and going to back to the “remain in Mexico” policy.

”We need to make sure that we are a country of laws,” Haley said. “The second we stop being a country of laws we give up everything this country was founded on so we have to secure the border.”

At the end of the debate, moderators asked the candidates which of their fellow GOP presidential hopefuls they would, proverbially speaking, vote off the island. The candidates collectively said they wouldn’t participate in that question, but Christie wrote down a name — it was Trump.

“Everyone on this stage has shown respect for Republican voters to come here, express their views, honestly, candidly and directly,” Christie said. “I have respect for everyone on this stage.”