With a plethora of attendees and supporters, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley held a campaign rally in South Carolina’s Aiken on Monday afternoon.
Held at the Etherredge Center at the University of South Carolina Aiken, Haley’s rally was filled with “pick Nikki” signs, hats and buttons as supporters cheered and clapped.
Beginning her speech by criticizing fellow candidate Donald Trump, Haley said Trump is attempting to push her out of the race by having the Republican National Committee name him the presumptive nominee.
“We don’t do coronations in America – this is a democracy,” said Haley. “So he got pushback on that.”
Haley also said she was tired of Trump’s “temper tantrums” and “fits” while victimizing himself.
“On the night of the New Hampshire election, I kid you not, Donald Trump had a temper tantrum on stage. He didn’t know I was going to get 43% of votes and he was not happy about it,” Haley said. “All he did was scream about revenge … at no point did he talk about the American people.”
After condemning Trump for not mentioning the country’s “wasteful spending” or fixing the low literacy rates, Haley said Republicans should not support someone who does not have the country’s best interest at heart.
“He only talks about himself, and that’s the problem,” she said. “… he even paid $50 million in legal fees for personal cases against himself – think about that.”
Calling Aiken a “special” and “invested community,” Haley told locals she wishes to make citizens’ lives better.
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“I have no issues with [Trump] and him running. What I do have issues with is our country is in disarray and the world is on fire, and we need to start to get to work on fixing her,” she said. “… you look at the situation we have on hand, and it’s not good. We are $34 trillion in debt. We’re having to borrow money just to make our interest payments.”
Moving on to criticize current President Joe Biden, Haley said Americans should not have to worry about the health of officials in Congress.
“Right now Congress is the most privileged nursing home in the country,” Haley said. “These are people making decisions about our national security. These are people making decisions on our future economy, and we need to know they’re at the top of their game.”
As a result of Congress members having more information about the economy compared to the average American, Haley said she believes they should also not be allowed to trade stock while in office.
“So, I don’t expect the D.C. political staff to love me, and I don’t want their support,” she said.
While “60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck,” Haley said both Democrats and Republicans voted for overspending and have plummeted the economy into a worse state.
“Something’s got to give,” she said. “Congress has one job – that’s to make sure they get a budget out on time. Do you know that Congress has given out a budget on time four times in 40 years? You know what I say? You don’t give us a budget on time, you don’t get paid – period.”
To fix the spending and budgeting, Haley said she believes the first thing Congress needs to do is reclaim “unspent COVID dollars” and fraudulent COVID relief claims.
“Instead of 80,000 IRS agents going after middle-America, let’s go after the hundreds of billions of dollars of COVID fraud,” she said.
Calling Congress the only group that “refuses to balance a budget,” Haley said the borrowing and spending needs to stop while eliminating unnecessary “pet projects.”
“I will veto any spending bill that doesn’t take us back to pre-COVID levels. That will save us trillions,” she said. “The next thing we’ll do is take as many federal programs as we can and send them back down to the state level. That will dramatically reduce the size of the federal government and it will empower people on the ground.”
Haley then ended her speech by claiming that the world would not thrive with “two candidates in their 80s,” and emphasized how veterans’ sacrifice needed to be honored and respected by building the country back up to revitalize the future generations’ love of the U.S.
“We need someone who is going to serve eight years – strong, disciplined and ready to fix the things that need to be fixed,” she said. “… the American dream is leaving, and I’m doing this for my son who is a senior in college, and I’m tired of watching him write papers on things he doesn’t believe in just to get an A. That’s not America.”
Prior to Haley’s speech, South Carolina State Representative Bart Blackwell said he fully supported Haley in her mission to become president.
“President is a big job – it’s not an easy job, so we need somebody who knows what they’re doing,” Blackwell said. “She has that legislative experience, executive experience, and has served on the world stage, and earned the respect of our friends, allies and I would suggest even our adversaries.”
Blackwell said Haley not only encompasses character, but is an example of honesty, decency and responsibility.
“No sense nominating someone who can’t win,” he said. “Early on, I thought ‘Nikkie Haley was the most competitive candidate, in terms of the general election, that we could possibly select.’”
Blackwell also said Haley has a chance of winning because of her determination and strong character.
“Right now in a head-to-head matchup with President Joe Biden, polls have her at a 12, 15 and I’ve even seen a 17 point marginal victory in November against Biden,” he said. “She’s a winner … and has the character we need to be proud of our president once again.”
Afterwards, Haley greeted attendees and took photos with many who came to listen and show their support.
Attendee Amy Swenson said she supported Haley’s stance on fixing the country, and was interested in hearing more about the candidate’s viewpoint on dealing with foreign affairs.
“I thought it was a good presentation. I appreciate her candor and her integrity. I think she has shown a lot of integrity over the last few years,” she said. “She’s spot on about the damage Trump has done.”
Fellow supporter Elaine McGowan, originally from Texas, said she also fully supported Haley’s campaign and would definitely be voting for her presidency.
“She was absolutely on point. Everything she said was truthful,” McGowan said. “She’s exactly what this country needs.”
For more information on Haley’s campaign, visit: https://nikkihaley.com/.
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education, lifestyle and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com
