Story highlights Nikki Haley takes on Donald Trump with some Southern wit

The Trump campaign is seeking to portray Haley as a hypocrite over tax return criticism

(CNN) South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday brushed aside a series of attacks by Donald Trump and his top lieutenants with a quintessentially Southern response.

"Bless your heart," the Palmetto State governor tweeted at Trump, brushing him back with some sharp-elbowed charm.

Haley, who endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio before South Carolina's February 20 primary -- which Trump won handily -- has ramped up her criticism of the billionaire front-runner ahead of the Super Tuesday contests.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump retweeted critical posts from two aides, both seeking to spread a video that first shows Haley in 2012 dismissing as a "distraction" calls for then-GOP hopeful Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, before cutting to a more recent rally when she demanded Trump do just that.

"The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!" Trump tweeted to cap it off, though not before deleting a first attempt that misspelled her name

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