Haley campaigns in Lowcountry on heels of New Hampshire primary defeat
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley spoke to voters in North Charleston on Wednesday.
The presidential hopeful told people in her home state that her campaign is far from over, despite being behind Donald Trump in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.
When Haley addressed the crowd Monday night, she made it personal, talking about her time as governor. She changed up her stump speech from the past few she’s given it across the country, skipping over basic introductions and her childhood in the state.
Two voters at the event said they support Haley because they’ve seen her as a successful leader here in the Palmetto State.
“Just with her being governor and seeing what she did as governor, I’m just going to continue to follow her,” John Mulik, who has lived in Charleston for 40 years, says.
Cheryll Wood-Flowers was mayor of Mount Pleasant from 1992 to 2000.
“I like that she’s a very strong woman because I consider myself a very strong woman [who] raised strong women. And I think that she has great ideas to take this country where it needs to be,” Wood-Flowers says.
Haley leaned into her time as a South Carolina leader touting prison reform, booming business and voter ID laws.
“There’s so many things that we did together. And when you think about all of that, just think if we can translate that over,” Haley says.
She advocated for nixing the federal gas tax, breaks for small businesses, school and curriculum choice, supporting veterans and helping the middle class, going into detail about her plans on each topic.
Haley started her speech by calling Trump’s recent comments about her “temper tantrums,” and him insecure, saying he should be threatened by her. That’s despite losing to Trump by double-digit points in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“We’ve only had two states that have voted. We’ve got 48 more that deserve to vote,” Haley says.
The former governor continues to separate herself from the former president saying he sows chaos, while she wants to fix problems. And some voters seem to agree.
“I worked for Reagan, both Bushs, Bob Dole, John McCain, never voted for Donald Trump and never will. And because I don’t think that he’s a good role model for the children in this country,” Wood-Flowers says.
Haley says since New Hampshire, her campaign has raised $1 million from more than 200,000 donors. Right now, she’s using that and her hometown support to continue her campaign.
Copyright 2024 WCSC. The Associated Press contributed to this report All rights reserved.
