Former South Carolina Governor and 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley sounded hawkish on Ukraine outside Des Moines, Iowa, in a speech kicking off her tour through the first state on Republicans’ primary and caucus calendar.
“This is a war about freedom, and it’s a war we have to win,” she said of the Ukraine conflict, arguing that former President Obama allowed Russia to seize Crimea while in office.
The Indian-American, whose full name is Nimrata Nikki Haley, said India had not won the West’s support against Russia because “they don’t trust we have the spirit to finish.”
“India has to know that we’re going to be there. And that’s why we have to finish this. This doesn’t mean we ever should put troops on the ground, and it doesn’t mean we should ever write blank checks. I am never for giving money; I am for giving military equipment [and] ammunition so that they can do the job themselves,” she continued.
Former President Donald Trump, who is vying with Haley and others for the Republican presidential nomination, has sought to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Haley also touted a stronger line on China and the Chinese Communist Party.
“They are communists. We need to start treating them like the communists that they are,” she told the crowd.
She also argued that the Chinese spy balloon showed a weakening in international respect for the United States after its botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“The United States has to stop trying to buy friends,” Haley also said, arguing repeatedly for a stronger military.
Yet, even as she made the case for military toughness, Haley stressed that the country’s biggest issue is “a national self-loathing that has taken over our country”—a reflection, perhaps, of the transformational impact of 2016 and the Trump presidency on the Republican Party’s rhetoric and identity.
Haley’s solution to the nation’s self-image problem?
Speaks from Crowded Flooring Showroom
Haley spoke from Royal Flooring, a flooring and appliance showroom in Urbandale, Iowa, just outside the state capital, Des Moines.Other major presidential candidates who have visited Urbandale include former president Barack Obama, who spoke in the city during his 2012 reelection campaign.
Volunteers estimated there were at least 300 people present. There were 200 chairs on the ground level and overflow spilling onto a second level in the massive showroom.
Haley was introduced by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, later described by Haley as “the best governor in the country.”
“Iowa Republicans, you in this room are truly going to have the opportunity to kick off the 2024 presidential campaign,” she reminded the crowd.
Democrats, by contrast, have moved to unseat the state’s first-in-the-nation status in their primary and caucus season, in favor of South Carolina.
“We’re making sure that education and freedom is for everybody, not just those that can afford it,” she said.
As in her Feb. 15 speech, Haley expanded on her story as the daughter of Sikh immigrants in the small-town American South.
She also repeated her call for mental competency tests of older politicians.
Haley, 51, brought up age again when asked why she deserves to be president rather than Trump, 76.
“This is bigger than a person,” she said.
The 2024 candidate also emphasized her support for E-Verify as a means of checking the employment status of illegal immigrants.
“We'll happily welcome you, but you have to prove that you deserve to be here,” she said.
Haley also argued that greater transparency on medication prices could help patients who feel they’re under the thumb of the pharmaceutical industry.
Attendees Want Strong Military, Better Economy, Push-Back on Leftist Agenda
Only some of the attendees who spoke with The Epoch Times prior to the event were committed to Haley–not a surprise, given the luxury of choice Iowans enjoy because of their first-in-the-nation status.The Iowans who streamed into Royal Flooring on Feb. 20 still have months and months to settle on a candidate.
Yet, even at this early stage, attendees consistently listed a few core issues near the top of their priorities for a 2024 candidate.
Scott Bates, the co-chair of the Republican Party of Dallas County, Iowa, told The Epoch Times he thinks local conservatives want a candidate who will put America’s interests first.
“Foreign policy is part of it. Energy policy is part of it. The price of groceries is part of it. What’s happening in the schools is part of it,” he said.
Both Dani Frampton and Andrew West said strong foreign policy mattered a lot to them.
That’s one big reason why Frampton backs Haley.
“I think she’s a fresh face for the Republican Party,” she told The Epoch Times.
West, who works at Royal Flooring, hasn’t yet decided on a candidate.
He was there with his young son, Maddox, who ate goldfish crackers as his dad described his concerns about America’s future.
West said he wants to ensure his son has “the same freedoms that I was granted.” He worries that bias in education could threaten that.
Carmela Rollins, who volunteers with the Republican Party in both Polk County and Dallas County, told The Epoch Times she likes Haley for many reasons.
One is that they share a similar American story.
“I’m originally from Italy, and her parents are from India,” said Rollins, who added that she felt Haley did a good job as the country’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“I want to push back against all the left-wing stuff, in my opinion, that I see today in schools and culture. ” said Kermit Anderson, a local Republican who still hasn’t decided on a candidate.
Ryan Schepper, another volunteer with the Dallas County GOP, said the size of government, the state of the economy, and radicalism in education are big issues for the voters with whom he has spoken.
“The woke agenda,” he added, is a big deal even in a more centrist state like Iowa.
“Everybody feels you can do and be whatever you want, but just don’t shove it down our throats,” he said.
Both Schepper and Anderson said they want to hear Haley out as the 2024 Iowa caucus season gets underway.
Bud Hockenberg, another attendee, told The Epoch Times much the same thing.
“It is early. You have to look at all of them,” he said.
Hockenberg’s top issues? A strong military and strong local law enforcement: “National and local safety.”
Randy Weisheit, who frequently volunteers with the Dallas County GOP, said of the next GOP leader, “I definitely believe they [conservatives] are looking for someone that is a strong leader and has a strong character.”
