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 restrain government spending and grow the economy.

“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.”

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 office as ambassador to the United Nations in the Donald Trump administration, a topic of controversy from five years ago.

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. 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.

Scott received the first question of the night Wednesday and later took on billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy for a comment he made during the first debate.

“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 economy and immigration loomed large.

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 data with China.

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.

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.

Haley also called for 25,000 more border patrol and ICE agents to control illegal immigration.

On reducing the costs of health care, Haley said she would push for tort reform and transparency in care.

“We need to bring competition back to health care, get rid of certificate of need systems and make sure that they can compete, we have to put the patient in the driver’s seat,” Haley said.