First ads backing Nikki Haley's Republican presidential bid go up 5 months after campaign launch

FIRST ON FOX – Nikki Haley declared her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in February. 

However, until now, neither the former United Nations ambassador and former South Carolina governor's White House campaign, nor the super PAC backing her, had gone up with any ads on behalf of Haley's 2024 bid.

That changes on Tuesday, as SFA Fund, the Haley-aligned super PAC, launches spots in Iowa and New Hampshire, the states that vote first and second in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

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Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa's annual Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, July 28, 2023. (Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty Image)

Since jumping into the 2024 race five-and-a-half months ago, Haley has been spending plenty of time in New Hampshire, Iowa and her home state, which holds the third contest in the Republican primary and caucus schedule.

"For us, it’s about building trust. It’s about building relationships. It’s about earning support," Haley emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview last week.

Noting that many of her rivals have shelled out big bucks to run ads, Haley said, "all the other guys have spent millions of dollars. We haven’t spent any because it’s not the time. This is the time you build the relationships."

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Pointing to the start later this month of the Republican presidential nomination debates, Haley emphasized that "once the debate starts, that’s when you go and create the traction and get the movement out there. It’s ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ It’s relationships. It’s trust. It’s answering every question. It’s touching every hand. Get used to this face because I’m going to keep on coming back to New Hampshire."

Former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential candidate, outlines her proposals to combat the fentanyl crisis, during a campaign event at a faith-based addiction recovery center in Manchester, New Hampshire, on July 26, 2023. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

The spots from SFA Fund, which were shared first nationally with Fox News on Tuesday, spotlight her national security and foreign policy credentials.

"Nikki Haley fought America’s enemies at the U.N. and won," the narrator in the spot running in New Hampshire says. "Nikki Haley – tough as nails – smart as a whip – unafraid to speak the truth."

The commercial also includes footage of Haley from the campaign trail charging that "China’s dictators want to cover the world in communist tyranny" and predicting that "like the Soviet Union before it, Communist China will end up on the ash heap of history."

Mark Harris, the lead strategist for the super PAC, spotlighted that "whether it’s a farmer impacted by dubious Chinese trading practices, businesses worried about hacks, or balloons spying on our servicemen and women, Americans can count on Nikki Haley to have their back."

Democrats are taking aim at Haley's record on China during her tenure as South Carolina governor.

"Nikki Haley is at it again — saying one thing and doing the complete opposite. Her tough talk on China doesn’t bear out with her actual record — she parroted Donald Trump’s praise for China as ambassador to the UN, and welcomed hundreds of millions of dollars of investments from Chinese businesses when she was governor. Granite Staters are going to see right through Haley’s desperate spin," New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesperson Aida Ross told Fox News. 

SFA Fund told Fox News they will spend $6.2 million to run the ad on broadcast, cable and digital in New Hampshire for nine weeks starting on Tuesday. The super PAC is launching a similar spot with a $7 million buy in Iowa, which was first reported in the Hawkeye State by the Des Moines Register.

Former President Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the latest GOP presidential nomination polls, as he makes his third straight White House run. Trump enjoys a large double-digit lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with Haley and the rest of the large field of Republican candidates mostly polling in the single digits.

When asked about the super PAC’s decision to wait until now to go up with ads, Harris said in a statement that, "we are about to enter the second phase of the campaign. It has long been our view that this will be the time for Nikki’s campaign to grow, and it is when our effort will really launch in full."