Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley “has surged” in Iowa since last week’s first Republican presidential debate, pollster Tony Fabrizio has told Republican donors, according to a polling memo obtained by Axios on Wednesday.

However, she and the other candidates remain far behind former President Donald Trump in the first two states that will vote in the Republican primaries, with Fabrizio, a pollster for Trump, writing in the memo that “[Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis has flatlined, Haley has surged, and [entrepreneur Vivek] Ramaswamy is seen as last week’s debate winner.”

[‘Flatlined’ is hardly the word; ‘plateaued,’ perhaps. Team Trump obviously wants to sell the idea that DeSantis is crumbling, but that’s not what the polls show. In fact, the same poll shows DeSantis still edging out the rest of the field in New Hampshire for #2 despite its relative unsuitability for a candidate like DeSantis. And if anyone “surges” in Iowa other than Trump, wouldn’t that be an indication of a significant amount of dissatisfaction with the front runner? — Ed]