Nikki Haley Wants To Ban Foreign Lobbying (Except When She’s Campaigning)

During an April town hall in Iowa, 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley declared her intent to “outlaw all foreign lobbying whatsoever.”

“Ban all foreign lobbying,” she wrote on Twitter shortly after.

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But behind the scenes, Haley had given herself a hall pass when it comes to accepting campaign donations from abroad. According to a Wednesday report from ABC News, the former United Nations ambassador has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from foreign lobbyists.

The donations include $6,600 from Oswaldo Palomo, a registered foreign agent representing governments and agencies around the globe. The cash from Palomo and others has been routed through Haley’s joint fundraising committee and included in campaign finance disclosure reports reviewed by ABC News.

Like many other GOP 2024 hopefuls, the former South Carolina governor is struggling to take a foothold in the race to secure the nomination, polling in the single digits behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. In April. Haley’s campaign was accused of announcing inflated fundraising numbers that were contradicted by campaign disclosures. As of April, the campaign had only brought in $5.1 million, a far cry from the $11 million boasted about to donors in a memo. DeSantis, for comparison, raised $8.2 million in the 24 hours after he announced his candidacy.

The less-than-stellar fundraising may be attributed to Haley’s struggles to differentiate herself from Trump and the increasingly crowded field of Republican candidates. In a February interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Haley stumbled over how her platform actually differentiated from Trump’s, repeatedly stating that she’s not “kicking sideways” at other candidates.

Haley is slated to make her pitch to voters on a national stage during a CNN town hall on Sunday. However, with both former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie expected to officially launch their 2024 campaigns next week, Haley is likely to struggle even more to establish her relevancy amongst a cramped roster of candidates.

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