Dick Morris — A Trump Adviser — Trashed Haley And DeSantis On Newsmax

Dick Morris serves as an adviser to Donald Trump — but that tends not to get mentioned when he appears on Newsmax to trash Trump’s presidential competition. Morris attacked Nikki Haley in a Nov. 18 TV appearance:

While former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has surged ahead of Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, presidential campaign adviser Dick Morris tells Newsmax that “there’s no prize for second place.”

“I think that nobody’s told Haley that there’s no prize for second place,” Morris told “Saturday Report.” “You don’t get to be vice president by finishing second. You get to be vice president by somebody picking you for VP who’s finished first.”

Note that writer Eric Mack described Morris as only a “presidential campaign adviser” but failed to specify that he was advising Trump.

Morris went on the attack over Haley’s botched answer about slavery in a Dec. 30 appearance, declaring it the end of her campaign:

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s comments about the Civil War and slavery will likely be the “epitaph” for her campaign, political consultant Dick Morris told Newsmax on Saturday.

“In every cemetery where they should mark the grave of a presidential contender, there’s an epitaph about a stupid quote that they did; and this is what Nikki Haley’s epitaph will be,” Morris said on Newsmax’s “Saturday Report.”

“I think that Nikki’s comments will hurt her very badly. And, more importantly, they reflect the idea of an inexperienced candidate, of somebody who’s not used to handling this stuff,” he added. “When they’re scripted and they get a question on the script, they’re OK. But when it comes from nowhere, they don’t handle it.”

Writer Sandy Fitzgerald also noted that Morris “Morris discussed the polls that are showing former President Donald Trump as the clear front-runner in the Republican primary race and said he believes Trump will clinch the nomination in March” — but she didn’t disclose that Morris is a Trump adviser.

As Haley ended up being the lone survivor of the non-Trump candidates, Morris ranted about her staying in the race in a Feb. 18 TV hit:

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is relying on Democrat voters and anti-Trump funding to keep her GOP primary campaign afloat, but it is only a matter of time before it all sinks, according to presidential campaign adviser Dick Morris on Newsmax.

“I think the only reason she’s running is she has money,” Morris told “Saturday Report.” “She got campaign contributions from suckers who were determined to stop Donald Trump at all costs and would have given money to Mickey Mouse to do it.

“And now that Nikki Haley’s candidacy is unraveling, they’re not jumping ship. They’re still there, and their money is still in the bank account. And I think that Haley is just milking that for as long as she can, because she has the money. You have the money, you stay in.”

Regardless, Haley is throwing good money after bad despite having “zilch, zip, none, nada” hope to win next Saturday in her home state, according to Morris, the host of “Dick Morris Democracy,” which airs 3:30 p.m. ET on Newsmax.

Again, Mack described Morris as only a “presidential campaign adviser” but didn’t disclose that he was advising Trump.

Morris whined further about Haley in a Feb. 24 appearance:

Former presidential adviser Dick Morris told Newsmax Saturday that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley faces significant challenges in her presidential bid, saying she has virtually no statistical path to victory as the primary season progresses.

Morris outlined the pivotal upcoming Super Tuesday, where approximately “4,500 delegates” will be allocated, emphasizing the significance of states like California and Texas, “where if you win more than 50% of the vote in the primary, you are assured the entire delegation.”

Under these conditions, Morris stated, it is increasingly evident that former President Donald Trump will secure a prevailing portion of delegates, rendering Haley’s chances negligible.

[…]

Morris likened Haley’s situation to rooting for the second-place team after the leading contender has secured victory, emphasizing the futility of her efforts to maintain relevance in the race.

He criticized Haley’s tenacity in clinging to her candidacy, describing it as “disgraceful” and “disgusting.”

This time, Jim Thomas called Morris a “former presidential adviser” but didn’t tell readers that he’s currently advising Trump.

Morris made sure to take shots at the other main non-Trump candidate as well. He devoted a Jan. 22 column to a post-mortem on Ron DeSantis’ campaign:

Early in 2023, DeSantis had very good momentum, coming off his re-election victory in Florida in November of ’22 amid the debacle of the failed Republican Senate campaign in Pennsylvania. Indeed, a CNN survey on March 8, 2023 showed the Florida governor two points ahead of Trump among Republican primary voters.

But the moment passed and Trump began to pummel DeSantis over his support for raising the Social Security retirement age and lowering the cost of living adjustment.

[…]

Meanwhile, DeSantis, in one of the biggest blunders in political history not only failed to answer the social security attack, but did not advertise all until he finally announced his candidacy on May 24, 2023. Way too late.

Morris likened DeSantis to Mitt Romney, who he claimed similarly “waited too long to answer the negatives being thrown at them by their opponents.” He failed to disclose that he’s a Trump adviser.

UPDATE: Morris used a Jan. 10 column to accuse Haley of trying to “hijack” the New Hampshire primary by the completely legal means of encouraging non-Republicans to vote for her:

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has mounted a strong effort to steal the New Hampshire Republican primary by packing it with crossover Democrats who claim to be independents. Her New Hampshire campaign is based on attracting non-Republicans to vote against Donald Trump in the Republican primary. And it’s working.

(Unlike most states, New Hampshire permits independents to vote in the Republican primary.)

[…]

Were Haley’s support among independents a manifestation of broad-based electoral appeal to those voters who are not in either party, it would be a show of strength worth considering. But it isn’t. Rather, it’s the result of a stop-Trump campaign largely waged by Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents. Their flirtation with Haley is entirely opportunistic — they just want to defeat Trump and afterward, they will go back to voting for Biden.

Morris repeated this line of attack in a Jan. 13 TV appearance.