- Nikki Haley hasn't given up on the prospect of being the Republican presidential nominee.
- She faces an uphill battle, as Trump is favored to win the nomination.
There are still people who believe in Nikki Haley.
Haley, one of two final Republican presidential candidates, is facing off against an ever-popular Donald Trump — who appears extremely annoyed that his former UN ambassador isn't handing him the nomination by dropping out.
Despite her persistence, the Republican nominee faces an uphill battle. Republicans have overwhelmingly endorsed Trump for the February 24 primary in Haley's home state of South Carolina.
She has been leaning into open primary states, where non-Republicans can cast ballots. But in New Hampshire — an open primary state — Haley still lost by more than 10% to Trump.
Landon Parvin, once a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, told The Wall Street Journal there are ways for Haley to take on what he called "the Great Pumpkin far away in Mar-a-Lago" — as long as she brings more personality than Ron Desantis.
One piece of advice Parvin gave Haley was to stand up for Trump's vanquished opponents, including Meatball Ron and Chris "Bum" Christie.
"You alone now carry the banner. Speak up for all the Republicans who have been demeaned, diminished, and threatened by Trump. He can no longer hurt you." Parvin told the Journal.
Parvin also advised Haley to respond to Trump's sass — a difficult task considering he is terminally online — with her own, but she should remember there is an art to it.
"Do it with humor, or you'll look like you want to stand on his ventilator tube," Parvin told the Journal.
He recommended highlighting how Trump's legal battles make him unfit for president by using clever quips in regards to his criminal indictment related to payments made to adult star Stormy Daniels.
(The strategy did not work out for DeSantis, but maybe Haley can use it to woo independents and moderate Republicans concerned about Trump's many indictments.)
Parvin also advised Haley to combat "stereotypes" thrown at her by Trump, who has spent a lot of time predictably coming up with racist nicknames against the Indian American candidate.
Although it is unclear if Haley already read Parvin's words, the GOP candidate has ramped up her attacks on Trump, commenting on his age, questioning his memory, and hitting at his legal troubles.
On Friday afternoon, following the announcement that Trump would have to pay $83 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll, who sued the former president for defamation, Haley posted on X that his legal troubles were a distraction to other policy issues on Republican's minds.
"America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden," she wrote.
Instead of agreeing, users ratioed her posts.
Representatives for Haley did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.