Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's campaign has ejected another journalist from one of her events, after he sought a response to DailyMail.com's exclusive reporting on resurfaced infidelity claims.
The Spectator's DC gossip columnist, who writes under the pen name 'Cockburn,' revealed in a column that a Haley staffer booted him from an event in Amherst, New Hampshire on Friday.
DailyMail.com was also asked to leave the same event, a meet-and-greet at Mary Ann's Diner, and a Haley staffer has said our outlet is banned from covering her future campaign events.
The ejections came after DailyMail.com published a story Friday morning exclusively reporting allegations that Haley falsely denied cheating on her husband when she was accused of engaging in two extramarital affairs during her 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial campaign.
The Haley campaign didn't respond to requests for comment on those allegations, even though DailyMail.com gave them 24 hours to do so.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley attends a campaign stop at Mary Ann's Diner in Amherst, New Hampshire on Friday. Journalists from two outlets were ejected from the event
The Spectator columnist, who covered several Haley events in New Hampshire this week, wrote that he learned of the DailyMail.com report after arriving at the Amherst event.
'Naturally Cockburn was curious about whether Haley or her team had seen the story or had a response. He asked a young male staffer who was part of her entourage — who said he hadn’t,' the columnist wrote.
The Spectator journalist said that as he watched while Haley gave a televised interview, 'an even younger male staffer' approached and asked which outlet he was with.
The journalist wrote that he when he told the staffer he wrote for the British newsmagazine The Spectator, the staffer barked 'out' and ejected him from the diner, although other reporters were present inside.
In a column later on Friday, referencing New Hampshire's state motto, the journalist said he 'decided to live free rather than die at the hands of a neocon teenager — and headed off into the snow.'
Neither the Haley campaign nor the pseudonymous Spectator columnist responded to requests for comment from DailyMail.com on Saturday morning.
Separately, a DailyMail.com reporter and photographer were asked to leave Haley's Friday morning event at Mary Ann's Diner, a public restaurant where the former South Carolina governor was talking to voters.
'Daily Mail is not credentialed for any more events. I'm politely asking you to leave,' Haley spokeswoman Chaney Denton said and pointed to the door.
Asked if this was in effect for the rest of the campaign, Denton answered 'yes.'
Denton later told an editor at DailyMail.com that the publication was banned for 'printing lies.'
Ironically, Haley took questions from the press at the event and spoke generically about attacks against her. Donald Trump has ramped up his criticism of her as she has risen in the polls.
'If people hit me, this is politics. For me it's not personal,' Haley said.
Nikki Haley is seen with her husband Michael, a businessman and commissioned officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard, in 2015. Haley frequently cites her husband as a key reason for her presidential bid and features him in campaign ads
Shortly after the event, DailyMail.com's reporter was told the application for credentials for a rally in Manchester on Friday night had been rejected.
'We apologize, but due to high volume of interest and limited space we CANNOT credential you for tonight’s event in Manchester, NH. Please do not attempt to attend, as you will be turned away at the door,' the email read.
To apply to cover an event, a news organization fills out an online form and then gets a confirmation email from the campaign to confirm it has been credentialed for the event.
DailyMail.com did not receive a confirmation for any Haley events on Friday even though it had been credentialed to cover her two events on Thursday.
The former U.N. Ambassador has been in the Granite State furiously campaigning ahead of the primary on Tuesday.
The vote is seen as one of her last chances to close the gap with frontrunner Trump, and a bad result would be dire for her White House prospects.
She was also dealt a blow on Friday when South Carolina Senator Tim Scott snubbed her and revealed he would be endorsing Trump.
Haley's campaign had tried to woo the Republican, whom she first appointed to the Senate while serving as governor, but he ultimately went with the frontrunner citing their 'very good relationship'.
DailyMail.com has been covering Haley's campaign since she launched her presidential bid in February 2023.
Our reporters have been at several of her events, including her official launch, and with her on the trail in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Signed affidavits obtained by DailyMail.com, and now, multiple witnesses, claim Haley had sexual relationships with Columbia lobbyist Larry Marchant Jr., 61,(left) and her communications consultant Will Folks before she was elected governor in 2010
DailyMail.com has covered many of Haley's campaign events, including on Thursday in New Hampshire, where she posed for pics with voters.
On Friday, Dailymail.com reported on new allegations of an affair Haley previously denied having. New witnesses came forward, saying that Haley's denials of two alleged 2008 affairs are false, and that the supposed trysts were brazen and widely known among South Carolina politicos.
Will Folks, 49, and Larry Marchant, 61, both signed affidavits in 2010 alleging they had a sexual relationship with the then-South Carolina lawmaker, before she went on to become governor.
While the contents of the affidavits were described by major news outlets at the time, this was the first time they had been published outside of Folks' own document which he published on his blog.
Haley, 51, denied both at the time, saying she was '100% faithful' to the father of her two children and husband of 28 years, Michael Haley – who was deployed in Afghanistan with the National Guard in 2012.
Haley now frequently cites him as a reason for her presidential candidacy.
She has taken on a new, combative tone on the campaign trail as polls show her making a steady climb in first-in-the-nation primary state. Haley's candidacy depends on a strong finish in New Hampshire, which would include a close second.
Trump leads Haley by 15.7 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average of New Hampshire as of Saturday. The polls also show, however, that Haley is on an upward trajectory - in the past two months she has climbed steadily from under 20% to 34%.
Trump in turn is going hard after Haley.
'I don't know that she's a Democrat, but she's very close. She's far too close for you,' the former president told voters at a rally in Portsmouth on Wednesday night.
His campaign is also hitting her hard with advertising in the state.
Haley finished a disappointing third in Monday’s Iowa caucuses but polls show she could fare much better in New Hampshire, where she has focused much of her time and attention. Trump won Iowa by 30 points.
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