Article by Abi Cumbus

On Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, Republican presidential candidate, Nikki Haley, hosted a political rally at Mauldin High School in the Old Gym.

Before Haley’s entrance, select audience members crowded the stage, dancing along to the classic rock music. Blue, red, and white lights set a patriotic atmosphere for the event, while white star-shaped beams moved about the ceiling.

The rally began at 6:03 p.m., starting with South Carolina state representatives Nathan Ballentine and Ralph Norman endorsing Haley as a candidate.

Haley followed the two and began her speech. She reflected on her progress as a candidate, international relations, national debt, veteran treatment, education, and emphasized the importance of voting in the Republican Primary on Feb. 24, 2024.

In the beginning of her speech, Haley made lighthearted comments on the competition between her and former president Donald Trump. From the comments that he made to his lack of debating with her on stage, Haley encouraged the competition as it has helped her with fundraising and gaining support. Haley also expressed her concerns about Trump as a candidate and a possible president, discussing how Trump has not talked. “All that time that [Trump] is spending in a courtroom defending himself, he’s not fighting for the American people… He hasn’t talked about how he’s going to get our kids reading again, he hasn’t talked about how he’s going to bring law and order back to this country, he hasn’t talked about how he’s going to deal with any of the wars that are happening, and what I worry about for all of us is these court cases are going to go on for another year, and you know who sees that? Russia, China, Iran, that’s who sees that. That’s why I’m worried. That’s the problem I have.”

In addition to her apprehension, Haley expressed her concerns for the national spending budgets. She addressed the Republican party's contribution to the national debt that has been accumulating throughout the years. She contrasted the things that Congress has been focusing on, such as infrastructure for a university and hotels, to the issues that many Americans are facing, such as homelessness and poverty. Additionally, Congress has been lacking to get budgets out in a timely manner, and Haley’s response is, “You don’t give us a budget on time, you don’t get paid.”

Haley discussed her plans for her administration to better impact the economy. “We’ll stop the spending, we’ll stop the borrowing, I’ll eliminate the pet projects and earmarks and we’ll veto any spending bill that doesn’t take us back to any pre-Covid levels. That will save us trillions. Then we’re going to reduce the size of the federal government, we’re going to take as many federal programs as we can and send them down to the states,” she declared.

Haley’s speech pivoted to focus on education specifically. She started by mentioning that 20 percent of eighth graders are proficient in reading and 28 percent are proficient in math. Taking pride in the actions that South Carolina made, Haley stated, “What we did in South Carolina, we need to do across the country. Instead of pushing kids forward, we started holding them back. We brought in their parents, we did reading remediation, we set them up for success. We’ve got to do that across this country. We’ve got to get our kids reading again.” Furthermore, Haley advocated for transparency with what is being taught in the classroom, giving parents control over which schools and which medium they want their children to be educated by. Haley also took pride in South Carolina’s vocational learning programs, wanting to spread that across the country to get kids ready for the real world and involved in the economy before they graduate.

Taking a bit of a feminist approach, Haley focused on the importance of raising strong girls to become strong women. Touching into the issue of transgender males participating in female sports, Haley stated, “Strong women become strong leaders, and none of that happens if you have biological boys playing in girls’ sports. We've got to cut that out.”

Following her segment on education, Haley turned her focus to international relations, starting with the United States border. She shared her past experiences with illegal immigration in South Carolina along with her recent visits to the United State Border. She described the frustration that the rangers at the border have experienced: finding dead people on the fence, having to turn people over to border control, and seeing many areas of illegal activity. The rangers expressed to Haley that they feel like “glorified babysitters.”

Haley described her plan to take action within the country as, “We do a national e-verify program where every business has to prove that the people they hire are in this country legally. We defund sanctuary cities once and for all, no more safe havens in America. We put 25,000 border patrol and ICE agents on the ground and let them do their job. We go back to the remain in Mexico policy so that no one even steps foot on US soil, and instead of catch and release we go to catch and deport. That is how we will stop what’s happening on the border.”

Haley then brought awareness to veterans and the mistreatment that they have experienced. Being the wife of a veteran herself, Haley spoke of the struggles that she saw her husband go through. She discussed the little help that veterans get when they come back. “We can’t just love our men and women when they’re gone, we gotta love them when they come back, too,” Haley expressed. She listed ways that she wanted veterans to be helped including Telehealth visits for their mental health and allowing them to choose the hospitals that they want to go to.

Turning to the economic side of politics, Haley noted that Russia, China, and Iran did not want the United States to have a strong military or be energy independent. In response, Haley declared that the United States will not only be energy independent but energy dominant. She talked about Biden’s energy plan, which would eliminate the ability for the United States to export natural gas, and planned her alternative plan, which was to increase the amount of natural gas extracted in the United States.

In light of President Joseph Biden’s upcoming visit to South Carolina, Haley sent out a warning to him saying, “He needs to know he’s coming to a state that believes in freedom. He needs to know that we don’t want him telling us what kind of car to drive, what kind of stove to use, whether we can have a dishwasher or not.” Taking a patriotic stance, Haley declared that the United States should be “a live free or die country.” Tying it back to the natural gas discussion, Haley stated that the United States would export all of the natural gas that they wanted to.

Haley then turned her attention to term limits in D.C. She brought up the mental competency tests that she has been pushing for politicians over the age of 75. She spoke about the importance of knowing politicians are able to function well on a mental level. “These are people making decisions on our national security. These are people who are making decisions on the future of our economy. We need to know they’re at the top of their game,” Haley said.

Moving onto national security, Haley reviewed the multiple worldwide conflicts: the war taking place in Europe, the war taking place in the Middle East, North Korea’s ballistic missile testing, and the Chinese on the march. “Make no mistake, none of that would’ve happened had we not had that debacle in Afghanistan,” Haley said. She frustratedly retold how the troops left in the middle of the night “without telling our allies, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us for decades because we asked them to be there. Think about what that told our friends. More importantly, think about what that told our enemies.”

Haley’s solution is to not give money to any other country, whether it is friend or foe because it’s nearly untraceable and unaccountable. Additionally, she wants the people to know who their friends are and who are not. Recalling her experience in the United Nations, Haley spoke highly of Ukraine and their support for the United States. She described terrorists as very transparent, using three recent examples: Hamas’s plot to attack Israel, China’s declaration of overtaking Hong Kong, and Russia’s warning of invading Ukraine. “China says Taiwan is next, we better believe them. Russia said once they take Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next, those are NATO countries, that puts America at war, we are trying to prevent war, this has always been about preventing war,” Haley warned.

Additionally, Haley stressed the importance of protecting Israel, stating, “Israel is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood. They are the tip of the spear when it comes to defeating terrorism. It has never been that Israel needs America. It has always been that America needs Israel.”

Furthering her speech on foreign policy, Haley listed all of the ways that China has been infiltrating the United States. From the infamous spy balloon from 2023 to the small scale surveillance drones used by the United States’ law enforcement, Haley found fault in the amount of investment and allowance the United States has given to the Chinese. Outside of the United States, Haley addressed the Chinese military build-up and the base they set up in Cuba. Contrasting the United States and the Chinese governments, Haley listed the great amount progress China has made while the United States barely has a start in comparison. “China never saw us as a competitor; they always saw us as an enemy. We’ve gotta start looking at them the way they look at us,” she declared.

For her final topic, Haley chose to discuss the way that the Republicans can win America’s approval. She started by stating that the Republicans needed to nominate a candidate from a new generation. Examining her opponent, former president Donald Trump, Haley pointed out that chaos trails in his steps. Her other opponent, President Biden, was mentioned, but Haley focused mainly on Vice President Kamala Harris, stating how each vote for Biden also counts as a vote for Kamala Harris.

Haley contrasted the difference between the national government’s accomplishments and systems to South Carolina’s accomplishments and systems from when she was governor. She listed off many achievements including illegal immigration acts, picture ID requirements for travel and voting, pension reforms, reducing state debts, and reducing unemployment. She characterized South Carolina as people who want someone to fight for them. She then promised, “I fought for you as governor, I will fight for you as president.”

Concluding her speech, Haley commissioned her audience to do anything they can to support her campaign. Actions such as taking a yard sign, volunteering, donating, and voting in the primaries on February 24, 2024.