Republican presidential candidate and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley had a number of notable moments during her appearance at CNN’s Iowa City Hall on Thursday.
Haley talked about how she plans to surpass former President Trump, the clear front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination, as well as her recent controversial comments on the campaign trail about slavery and the Iowa caucuses. Also mentioned.
Asked how she plans to overtake Trump, who continues to maintain a commanding lead in the polls despite Haley’s recent gains in New Hampshire and Iowa, the former South Carolinian said: The governor pointed out how many of the same polls show her winning by one vote. A duel with President Biden.
Opinion poll reveals worrying levels of concern over whether 2024 elections will be held ‘fairly’ and vote counts accurate
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at an election town hall in Rye, New Hampshire, on January 2, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
“I’m beating Biden by 17 points,” Haley said, referring to recent polls, and said that in a hypothetical race against Biden in November, she would be facing President Trump or another Republican candidate. He pointed out that he has been shown to perform better than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “If we win by double digits, we’ll go into Washington with authority…It’s time to get over President Trump.”
Haley insisted that Trump would be the leader of a generation that would “leave behind the negativity and baggage”, claiming that “chaos will continue”. However, she later defended President Trump’s intention to pardon him if he is convicted of any crime, saying that some of the charges currently facing the former president in Georgia, Washington, D.C., and New York state are “political”. “This is motivated by personal motives,” he said.
After saying that Trump “will have to answer” for some of the charges he faces, Haley said, “I’ve often said he’s his own worst enemy,” but which He did not say whether he was charged with a crime.
R.F.K., J.R.As campaign season heats up, meet the requirements to appear on the first general election ballot of 2024.
Asked about the worsening crisis at the southern border, Haley called Biden’s handling of the situation “an absolute dereliction of duty,” calling the administration’s response to Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s actions to protect the state from a flood of migrants. criticized the efforts of He is trying to cross the Rio Grande.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the New York Young Republicans Club Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on December 9, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“Are you kidding me?” she said in reaction to Biden’s efforts to remove razor wire at the border to block traffic.
Haley also said her administration would introduce a national electronic verification program to ensure that businesses do not employ illegal immigrants, cut funding to sanctuary cities “once and for all,” and reverse President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy. He added that they would be reinstated and “captured and deported.” Rather than “catch and release.”
Maine Democratic Party says voter ID law that banned President Trump from voting is ‘rooted in white supremacy’
She went on to praise Mr. Abbott for busing migrants to sanctuary cities, but declined to credit Mr. DeSantis with doing the same, despite being asked directly.
Haley was later asked at a town hall event last month why she refused to mention slavery as a reason for the Civil War. She reiterated that she was wrong not to mention it.
She says that as Southerners, we ignore slavery and racial issues because they were prevalent in the history of the South and Southerners were exposed to them from an early age; Still, he explained, he should have mentioned slavery first.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott looks on during a press conference on March 15, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Continuing the discussion on racial issues, she touted her response to the police shooting of an unarmed black man in South Carolina in 2015 while she was governor, and said that riots like those in Ferguson, Missouri, in the same year would be overdue. He pointed out that it did not take. She was there because she built relationships with law enforcement and the community.
Haley also defended her recent comments regarding the Iowa caucuses, saying the state would “start” the nomination process but New Hampshire would “fix” it. The proposal led to harsh criticism from Republican opponents.
“We joke around with each other…that’s what we do,” Haley said. “I think the problem with politics right now is that it’s too serious and too dramatic.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I’ve been coming here for months…you’re going to see me fight until the very end on my last day at Iowa,” she said. “If you didn’t love Iowa, you wouldn’t keep going to Iowa.”
Syed added that he will probably joke about New Hampshire while in Iowa in the coming days.
Get the latest on the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more with Fox News Digital’s Election Hub..
