Nikki Haley Hits Back at DeSantis PAC Claim Hillary Clinton Was Her ‘Inspiration’: ‘He’s Lying Because He’s Losing’

Nikki Haley hit back at ads from a pro-Ron DeSantis PAC pointing to Hillary Clinton as the former South Carolina governor's "inspiration" for getting into politics.

The 2024 GOP hopeful joined Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum on Monday night for a town hall from Iowa and at one point she accused DeSantis of "lying" with the ads.

"Look, DeSantis is desperate. He's lying because he's losing," she said.

Haley and DeSantis have been battling it out for a distant second to Trump in most national polls.

The Fight Right Super PAC has ran ads bringing up past comments from Haley about Hillary Clinton, calling the former first lady and secretary of state the "reason" Haley entered politics.

"We know her as Crooked Hillary, but to Nikki Haley, she’s her role model, the reason she ran for office," one ad says.

Baier and MacCallum asked Haley about the ads and her past comments on Clinton, and Haley did admit she chose to enter politics after sitting through a Hillary Clinton speech.

"I never said Hillary Clinton was an inspiration," she said. "What I said when I was talking to a group of women who were looking at running for office, I said the same thing about her that I said about Sarah Palin and that is when I was looking to run, everybody told me I couldn't do it. They said you're too young. You have small children. You should start at the school board level."

Haley added, "I have never agreed with a single thing Hillary Clinton has ever said and I said that too, but Ron forgot to put that in the ad."

Haley recalled seeing a Clinton speech when she was considering running for office.

"She ended it by saying for every reason they tell you not to run that's exactly the reason you should," Haley said about Clinton.

The ad takes quotes from Haley during a speech to Women & Politics Institute at American University in 2020 and does not include Haley criticizing Clinton.

Haley has recounted the Clinton story on multiple occasions, including in a 2012 New York Times interview.