Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley defended her decision to accept corporate money, as she emerged as the top target of her rivals during the fourth Republican presidential debate.
"Look, we will take support from anybody we can take support from, but I have been a conservative fighter all my life," Haley said Wednesday on the stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. "I was a Tea Party candidate when I became governor. We opposed every single corporate bailout we possibly could."
Haley, who has been surging in the polls and attracted new interest from big-dollar donors in recent weeks, drew pointed attacks straight out of the gate from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy criticized Haley for taking money from LinkedIn Corp. co-founder Reid Hoffman, who donated $250,000 to a super political action committee backing her. Hoffman has historically donated to Democratic candidates but is one of several billionaires who see Haley as a potential alternative to Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner.
Ramaswamy said charged that one of Haley's biggest supporters was BlackRock chief executive officer Larry Fink, who he termed "the king of the woke industrial complex."
"To say that doesn't affect her is false," Ramaswamy added.
Haley retorted, "They're just jealous. They wish they were supporting them."
