Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is navigating the fallout of her first significant blunder on the campaign trail since her rise in the polls after pledging to impose a controversial social media policy if elected.

Appearing on the conservative Ruthless podcast and Fox News on Tuesday, Haley called for each social media user to be verified by name for "national security" purposes, suggesting that anonymity allows adversaries such as China and Russia to amplify misinformation. “They need to verify every single person on their outlet, and I want it by name," she said.

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The remark quickly generated backlash, stoked by the presidential campaigns of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who framed the policy as an attack on free speech rights for Americans.

DeSantis, who has been engaged in a mud-slinging battle with Haley over the last few weeks as the two fight for second place to former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary, was quick to hit her on the idea. He pointed to the authors of the Federalist Papers, who wrote the essays anonymously.

"They were not 'national security threats,'" he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"Haley's proposal to ban anonymous speech online — similar to what China recently did — is dangerous and unconstitutional," DeSantis said. "It will be dead on arrival in my administration."

Ramaswamy also posted, claiming, "This is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and straight out of the Democrats’ playbook."

He added that anyone who shares her belief "shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the White House."

Her opponents' quick and consistent focus on a perceived mistake comes as she continues to show upward momentum in primary polling, especially in early caucus and primary states that Trump nonetheless continues to dominate. In both New Hampshire and her home state of South Carolina, Haley leads DeSantis, who was once in a clear second place. In Iowa, where DeSantis is focusing his efforts until the caucuses, the Florida governor is slightly ahead.

The conservative and libertarian backlash to Haley's policy proposal took off on X and has since attracted media coverage, but strategists and commentators doubted the impact her remarks would have on her candidacy.

"Twitter is not real life," and it's not clear voters will punish her for the statement, said commentator Mary Katherine Ham, who examines First Amendment topics through a conservative lens.

Ham ceded that what Haley is suggesting is "a big deal policywise" and is not something she supports but added that center-of-the-road voters might find the idea of social media regulation "fairly sensible."

"The people who are going nuts over it are these terminally online Vivek-loving crypto bros," added Iowa Republican strategist David Kochel.

The Haley campaign walked back her comments after the criticism, narrowing the focus of her proposed policy to social media users located abroad.

“Americans have a right to free speech including having anonymous accounts on social media," the campaign said in a statement to RealClearPolitics. What she doesn't support, it said, is bad actors from China and Iran creating "anonymous accounts to spread chaos and anti-American filth among our people.”

The backtrack suggests Haley saw her remarks as a liability, but Kochel predicted it won't be held against her in the long run.

"I thought she cleaned it up pretty well," he said. "In fact, a lot of her support will come from commonsense, mainstream Republicans who worry about the poison that exists on the internet, security moms who see their daughters bullied online, etc."

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According to Ham, opponents are emphasizing this poorly received proposal, specifically because "she's rising and she is formidable."

"But I think this was a genuine misfire," she added. "She left herself open by making this call."