Women Politicians In The United States

"Haley’s intervention in the primary represents a political bet: By throwing her political might behind Mace — a candidate derided by Trump as “nasty, disloyal, and bad for the Republican Party” — and risking a defeat in her home state, Haley is taking steps to distinguish herself from a former president whom she served and who, like her, is weighing a 2024 bid. Those in Trump’s orbit concede it’s likely Haley will end up with the win, with public polling showing Mace ahead. While Haley is barnstorming the Charleston-area district for her candidate during the final days of the contest in a sign of confidence, Trump has opted against making an 11th-hour trip for Arrington."

"As former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley crisscrosses the country ahead of an anticipated 2024 presidential bid, she is also fixated on defending her home turf — from an incursion led by her onetime boss, former President Donald Trump. Haley is putting her political muscle behind South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, a freshman congresswoman who blamed Trump for the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot — and who is now facing a Trump-endorsed opponent, Katie Arrington, in next week’s Republican primary. Haley, a former South Carolina governor, has appeared in Mace’s TV ads, headlined a fundraiser that raised six figures, and is expected to close out the race by holding several events with the congresswoman."

"In his four years in office, DeSantis has proved to be a hard-working and hard-charging governor, known more for getting things done than inspiring crowds. He’s more Cal Coolidge than Ronald Reagan. But many voters miss the sunny optimism of leaders like the Gipper. That’s where Haley can deliver, both in the suburbs and across party lines. She’s still a tough leader but can soften the harsh edges of DeSantis, especially after the thrashing he’s taken in the national press. Haley won reelection by double digits after doing a great job in the top office and moving South Carolina past some ugly remnants of the state’s history. And she, like DeSantis, motivated centrist Democrats to vote red despite their party registration. Can you imagine Nikki facing down Kamala on the debate stage? The vice president ended her presidential primary campaign after being savaged by Tulsi Gabbard of all people."

"Haley’s track record, charisma and personal history are ideal for the Republican Party, or it would be if this was 2014. It remains to be seen if GOP voters will embrace any calm, effective, optimistic leader in the post-Trump era. Did 2022 teach conservative voters that candidates welded to The Donald don’t win, or do they want a third disappointing election day in a row? Haley is well-liked by most Republicans but doesn’t have anything like Trump’s passionate support. Nevertheless, she was a long shot in her elections to the Palmetto State Legislature and governor’s mansion. Perhaps lightning will strike a third time. She was smart to announce early, while other potential aspirants are still playing the “will he or won’t he” game. Former VP Mike Pence, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump Secretary of Everything Mike Pompeo, and a baker’s dozen of other hopefuls will likely jump in this year."

"By late February, roughly a third of Republicans either didn't know what to think of Haley or had no knowledge of the South Carolinian. And in a mid-March Morning Consult poll, Haley's favorability among GOP voters sat at 47%, while only 16% had an unfavorable view of her; roughly 1 in 5 respondents said they were unfamiliar with the ex-governor. This may give Haley the opportunity to define her candidacy before Trump and other potential entrants, like DeSantis and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have the chance to do so."

"When Haley was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010, she immediately became one of the highest-profile Republicans in a party that was starved for minority leaders, especially after Democrats in 2008 chose then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as their party's first Black presidential nominee. With Obama's tenure in the White House overlapping with much of Haley's tenure in the Palmetto State, she sought to contrast her conservatism with policies at the national level, seeking to lure businesses to the state and fighting against labor unions. But she left the governor's mansion in January 2017 to assume her ambassadorship at a time when Trump was starting to assume control over larger parts of the party from his perch in the Oval Office. By the end of his term, Trump remained the dominant force in the party headed into 2024, despite his loss to now-President Joe Biden and the political fallout from the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. So when Haley announced her presidential campaign in Charleston last month, it was in many ways a reintroduction of her record to a party that has essentially been defined by Trump since 2016."

"Haley, a trailblazing Indian American politician who cut her teeth in one of the most conservative states in the country, isn't winning over large blocs of Republicans at the moment given Trump's continued strength within the GOP and the intraparty intrigue with DeSantis' potential candidacy. But the former governor still has the potential to overcome her current standing as the Republican primary season heats up. Haley is still unknown to many voters, which means she'll have the opportunity to define herself, and with Trump concerned with more immediate threats from the likes of DeSantis and his own vice president, she'll have time to do that. And if it works, she could position herself as a forward-thinking leader who can move the GOP past the tumult of the 2020 presidential election."

"Nikki’s Haley’s grotesque display of support for Israel’s genocide follows her previous call for Palestinian refugees to be ethnically cleansed from their land and forced into neighboring countries. By championing U.S. complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians following a tour of illegal Israeli settlements, Haley marks herself as a shameless advocate for occupation and genocide."

"It is still early, but for now, some who count abortion as a top-tier issue view Haley as the most compassionate conservative candidate — both declared and those mulling a run — in the 2024 field. "I do think Nikki Haley’s got it down exactly. I think she truly comes from a place of love and care and concern for women and children," says Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Dannenfelser, whose group has yet to endorse any Republican candidate, adds that Haley is doing a far better job talking about the issue than her former boss, Donald Trump, and since he’s the only other declared GOP candidate, that may be enough."

"Haley has yet to define what her candidacy is about, why she’s running, or how she plans to deliver on the initial promise from her video announcement where she says it was time for a new generation of the Republican Party. “The bigger challenge for Ms. Haley is identifying the rationale for her candidacy beyond a winning persona,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board summed up last week. So far, the former South Carolina governor has missed two opportunities to differentiate herself before the field widens and her star turn at the center of the 2024 media circus wanes: staking a claim on race and the GOP and her stance on abortion following the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade."

"I don’t know what this means for the race, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Ramaswamy ticks up in the polls among Republicans given that he mimicked Trump’s 2016 primary debate performances. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Haley receives more good press than increased political support within the GOP. The fact is "the elephant not in the room," as moderator Bret Baier referred to Trump, remains the heavy favorite to capture his third consecutive GOP presidential nomination. Nothing that occurred on that stage Wednesday night did much to change that. But at least Haley can rightfully claim she didn’t bow down to Trump for once."

"The Nikki Haley on stage during the first Republican primary debate would be a strong candidate in a general election against any Democrat. While the former South Carolina governor was shining, Sen. Tim Scott faded, performing as though his objective was to preserve the possibility Donald Trump might pick him as a running mate, not to win the nomination himself. I was genuinely surprised by Haley. She sounded like the Haley I’ve been covering since her first run for governor to before she gave in, like most other Republican officials, and bent the knee to Donald Trump. I thought that version of Haley was dead, but there she was, proudly on stage Wednesday night. She spoke hard truths to what she knew might be an unreceptive audience. The debate was hosted by Fox News, — a rightwing operation posing as news — which had to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit because of its role in spreading lies about the 2020 election. The debate crowd was clearly pro-Trump, supporting a front-runner who didn’t even bother to show up. It made Haley’s decision to refuse to kowtow to the former president the way Vivek Ramaswamy did even bolder. She was aggressive when necessary, particularly in exchanges with Ramaswamy, and measured and nuanced when that made the most sense."

"But when Trump first declared, Haley was an early critic. In February 2016, she said she would not endorse Trump, explaining that he is “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president.” She continued to criticize him as she campaigned with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, whom she had endorsed for president. Then Haley reversed course when Trump became the nominee, and she landed the type of position in his administration that would provide her with the foreign policy experience she’d need for a presidential run: US ambassador to the United Nations. She could plausibly claim to have taken the position to serve her country – not Trump. Her approach seemed to work. She had good standing among staunch Trump supporters but had not alienated those who considered themselves moderates and Never Trumpers when she left her position at the UN. As a South Carolina voter who had sworn off the Republican Party, I was even intrigued by what she had pulled off."

"And though Haley’s embrace of Trumpism was undoubtedly a mistake, there were early indications from her time as governor that her priority was not always the people of South Carolina, but her own political aspirations. In 2013, then-Gov. Haley and a Republican-dominated General Assembly denied the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act to hundreds of thousands of low-income South Carolinians. She even opposed creating a statewide health care exchange under that law. Health officials in her administration told me at the time that there were simply better options, but it was clear to close observers in the state it was primarily about political expedience – especially when Haley declared that she would not expand Medicaid on President Barack Obama’s watch. About 40% of the state’s uninsured adults would have received health coverage under an expansion, as well as low-wage workers in retail and hospitality who are concentrated in Horry County, home to resort destination Myrtle Beach, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. A White House study said expansion could have saved about 200 lives in the state every year through early detection and treatment. And a University of South Carolina study estimated the state could have seen an additional 44,000 jobs added by 2020 with the multibillion dollar federal investment from a Medicaid expansion. Indeed, Haley, a self-avowed "pro-life" advocate, stood in the way of life-saving Obamacare – exposing her hypocrisy on an issue that has come to define the modern-day Republican Party."

"As governor of South Carolina, she never messed up like Sanford, who also had strong presidential prospects before his escapades. But she messed up when she decided to embrace Donald Trump – rather than keeping him at arm’s length – providing further proof that even the most talented Republicans were willing to bend the knee to the former president. Though she released a video on Tuesday announcing her intention to run against Trump for president in 2024, Haley has lost the moral high ground she once had over him. To be clear, Haley never really had the moral high ground; she just created the illusion of having it. She is as politically ambitious as any man or woman who has considered themselves qualified enough to lead the world’s most powerful nation. However, her principles have often seemed an afterthought or conditional on circumstance. And despite Haley’s ambitions, former President Donald Trump is still the top contender for the nomination. His most loyal supporters, which still number in the millions, won’t abandon him just because of a loss in 2020 – which many of them falsely believe was stolen from him – and a bad 2022 midterm cycle for Trump-backed candidates."

"It is unclear on which grounds - other than overt racism - @NikkiHaley urges that Palestinians should be displaced to Egypt. Forced displacement is prohibited under Intl Law & constitutes a Crime agst Humanity when it occurs in the context of widespread attacks agst civilians."

"Rewarding an aggressor will only lead to more aggressive actions. Failing to stand up for democracies who are invaded will lead to more invasions of free countries. To reward Russia for bad behavior and punish Ukraine for fighting to defend itself would be a terrible injustice, America should know the difference between right and wrong and want to be on the right side of history,"

"Russia started this war and has been the aggressor and violator in the conflict. Ukraine deserves the right to defend itself."

"As a voter, I put my priorities on a president who’s going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account, who would secure the border, no more excuses. A president who would support capitalism and freedom, a president who understands we need less debt not more debt. Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I’ve made that clear, many, many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump."

"What I do is I speak hard truths, whether people like it or not, and I let the chips fall where they may."

"Several weeks ago, I dropped my husband Michael, a combat veteran from Afghanistan, off at 4:00am for another year-long deployment. I watched him and 230 soldiers pick up their two duffel bags of belongings to go to a country they had never been, all in the name of protecting America. If they are willing to protect us from there, we should be willing to fight for America here. I will beat Joe Biden and he knows that. I will strengthen our economy and we will bring this inflation down. We will put transparency in the classroom. We will secure our borders. We will have the backs of our law enforcement. And we will make sure we have a strong national security. And, once again, we will make sure we have an America that is strong and proud. We have a country to save, join us. Go to nikkihaley.com, and let's get it done."

"So, first, I will tell you, as -- you know, as a parent, the one thing you want is for your child to have a better life than you did. And we can talk about all of these things, and there's a lot of crazy, woke things happening in schools, but we have got to get these kids reading. If a child can't read by third grade, they're four times less likely to graduate high school. So we need to make sure we bring in reading remediation all over this country. We need transparency in the classroom, because parents should never have to wonder what's being said or taught to their children in the classroom. Parents need to be deciding which schools their kids go to, because they know best. And let's put vocational classes back into the high schools. Let's teach our kids to build things again."

"It's not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel."

"You have no foreign policy experience and it shows."

"First of all, the American president needs to have moral clarity. They need to know the difference between right and wrong. They need to know the difference between good and evil. When you look at the situation with Russia and Ukraine, here you have a pro-American country that was invaded by a thug. So when you want to talk about what has been given to Ukraine, less than 3.5 percent of our defense budget has been given to Ukraine. If you look at the percentages per GDP, 11 of the European countries have given more than the US But what's really important is go back to when China and Russia held hands, shook hands before the Olympics, and named themselves unlimited partners. A win for Russia is a win for China. We have to know that. Ukraine is the first line of defense for us. And the problem that Vivek doesn't understand is, he wants to hand Ukraine to Russia. He wants to let China eat Taiwan. He wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don't do that to friends. What you do instead is you have the backs of your friends. Ukraine is a front line of defense. Putin has said if Russia -- one Russia takes Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. That's a world war. We're trying to prevent war. Look what Putin did today. He killed Prigozhin. When I was at the U.N., the Russian ambassador suddenly died. This guy is a murderer. And you are choosing a murderer over a pro-American country."

"I do think that Vice President Pence did the right thing. And I do think that we need to give him credit for that. But what I will also tell you is, look, I mean, when it comes to whether President Trump should serve or not, I trust the American people let them vote, let them decide. But what they will tell you is that it is time for a new generational conservative leader. We have to look at the fact that three quarters of Americans don't want a rematch between Trump and Biden. And we have to face the fact that Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can't win a general election that way."

"Bret, I think we're all pro-life. But what I would love is for someone to ask Biden and Kamala Harris, are they for 38 weeks or are they for 39 weeks, are they for 40 weeks? Because that's what the media needs to be asking."

"HALEY: So first of all, I will say it is in the hands of the people, and that's where it should be. But when you're talking about a federal ban, be honest with the American people."

"I am unapologetically pro-life, not because the Republican Party tells me to be, but because my husband was adopted, and I had trouble having both of my children. So I'm surrounded by blessings. Having said that, we need to stop demonizing this issue. This is talking about the fact that unelected justices didn't need to decide something this personal, because it's personal for every woman and man. Now, it's been put in the hands of the people. That's great. When it comes to a federal ban, let's be honest with the American people and say it will take 60 Senate votes. It will take a majority of the House. So in order to do that, let's find consensus. Can't we all agree that we should ban late term abortions? Can't we all agree that we should encourage adoptions? Can't we all agree that doctors and nurses who don't believe in abortion shouldn't have to perform them? Can't we all agree that contraception should be available? And can't we all agree that we are not going to put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty if she gets an abortion? Let's treat this like the -- like a respectful issue that it is and humanize the situation and stop demonizing the situation."

"First of all, we do care about clean air, clean water. We want to see that taken care of. But there's a right way to do it. And the right way is first of all, yes, is climate change real? Yes, it is. But if you go want to go and really change the environment, then we need to start telling China and India that they have to lower their emissions. That's where our problem is. And these green subsidies that Biden has put in, all he's done is help China because he doesn't understand all these electric vehicles that he's done, what that does that, half of the batteries for electric vehicles are made in China. And so, that's not helping the environment. You're putting money in China's pocket. And Biden did that. So, first of all, I think we need to acknowledge the truth, which is these subsidies are not working. We also need to take on the international world and say, okay, India and China, you've got to stop polluting. And that's when we'll start to deal with the planet."

"Well, I don't care about polls. What I care about the fact is that no one is telling the American people the truth. The truth is that Biden didn't do this to us. Our Republicans did this to us too. When they passed that $2.2 trillion COVID stimulus bill, they left us with 90 million people on Medicaid, 42 million people on food stamps. No one has told you how to fix it. I'll tell you how to fix it. They need to stop the spending. They need to stop the borrowing. They need to eliminate the earmarks that Republicans brought back in, and they need to make sure they understand these are taxpayer dollars. It's not their dollars. And while they're all saying this, you have Ron DeSantis. You've got Tim Scott. You've got Mike Pence. They all voted to raise the debt. And Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt. And our kids are never going to forgive us for this. And so, at the end of the day, you look at the 2024 budget. Republicans asked for $7.4 billion in earmarks. Democrats asked for $2.8 billion. So, you tell me who are the big spenders? I think it's time for an accountant in the White House."

"Chances are slim that Democrats and Republicans get serious about spending at any point between now and the election in November 2024. By then, Washington will have spent another $11 trillion while driving the national debt even higher. The American people are counting on the next president to get spending under control. As president, I will veto spending bills that don’t put America on track to reach pre-pandemic spending levels. I will claw back the $500 billion in federal pandemic funding that hasn’t been spent while going after up to $100 billion or more lost to fraud. These fights will inevitably pit me against Republicans as well as Democrats, but I’m used to it. As governor of South Carolina, I took on both parties to stop wasteful spending and to put every spending vote on the record, a fundamental measure of accountability and protecting taxpayers. I won that fight. It’s time someone in Washington stood up for taxpayers and stopped America’s slide toward bankruptcy."

"Republicans deserve to be called out for getting the ball rolling on the pandemic spending binge. Democrats deserve blame for keeping it going, price tag be damned. They’ve taken the famous line, "Never let a crisis go to waste," to a whole new level, throwing billions of dollars at everything from labor unions to government entities that don’t exist. And with President Joe Biden set to unveil his latest budget on Thursday, you can bet Democrats will continue to push for even more spending that Americans don’t need and can’t afford."

"Their bipartisan “infrastructure” bill was chock full of corporate welfare, too, including billions on electric chargers for cars Americans can’t afford. Every special-interest bailout, handout and carve-out that Washington politicians create pads a lucky few pockets while picking everyone else’s."

"Look no further than the bipartisan and boneheaded decision to bring back earmarks in 2021. They’re the gateway drug to higher spending, persuading lawmakers to vote for unaffordable trillion dollar bills because, hey, at least they got a cut. Congress has already passed $15.3 billion in earmarks and counting in fiscal year 2023, greasing the skids for ever-more-unaffordable spending blowouts. Then there’s welfare. Three years ago, Democrats and Republicans in Congress united to change Medicaid rules, adding tens of millions more people while dramatically expanding food stamps – with no strings attached. We should be saving taxpayer money by moving people from welfare to work, not the other way around."

"The current push to raise the federal debt limit is depressing. Worse is the fact that this same fiasco will keep happening. Washington simply isn’t serious about getting spending under control. We must be honest: Both Democrats and Republicans are responsible for America’s spending crisis. They have both supported multitrillion dollar deficits that have brought us to a $31.6 trillion national debt and counting. The nonstop spending binge of the past three years also gave us the soaring inflation that’s still squeezing families and an economy that’s stumbling toward recession. We need a president who will do what no one has done to date: Stand up to the big spenders in both parties. The past few years prove that while Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on much, they do agree on spending America into bankruptcy."

"As President, I will bring back our country’s strength and pride, building on the success that I see in Iowa and that I saw as governor of South Carolina. I’ll be back again soon, and I look forward to talking with even more Iowans about your lives and your worries. But I also look forward to hearing your hopes. Iowa is proof that America’s best days are ahead of us, and I look forward to proving it together with you."

"The values that sustain Iowa are the bedrock of America. Yet President Biden is hard at work undermining them. He’s weakening our country – economically, culturally, and spiritually – at the exact moment we need to be strong. And he’s destroying the pride that inspires each generation to defend our freedom, which is an urgent necessity in the face of Communist China. President Biden and his party have even spread the lie that America is racist. Take it from me, the first minority female governor in history: America is not a racist country."

"Iowa is strong and proud because of its education leadership. When Gov. Kim Reynolds signed education savings accounts into law earlier this year, she gave families the freedom to choose the school that’s right for their children. I fought for that same freedom as governor, and I’ll deliver it nationwide as President. And I’ll make sure no politician can close our schools ever again. Iowa’s strength and pride spring from many sources. This is a state that backs the blue, putting the police and safe streets ahead of criminals and chaos. It believes in defending religious liberty and the lives of the unborn. Families here believe in military service, which matters to me, as the wife of a combat veteran. And Iowans know we have to secure our border and stop the flow of dangerous drugs like fentanyl. The lives of our children, and the survival of our nation, depend on it."

"My purpose is to stop America’s downward spiral. I aim to move us forward toward freedom and self-confidence – toward the same strength and pride that defines the Hawkeye State."

"America needs to be more like Iowa. That’s my main takeaway after spending time this week holding town halls across the state – my first visit since declaring my candidacy for President earlier this month. Iowa is strong and proud, with conservative leadership all the way. But under Joe Biden and the Democrats, strength and pride are afterthoughts at best. And based on their decision to ditch the state’s first-in-the-nation caucus, this President is ignoring Iowa entirely. Iowa deserves better. And Iowans know we can do better. That fact was clear in my conversations with countless residents from Des Moines to Urbandale to Cedar Rapids to Marion. They look at what’s happening to America, and it deeply worries them. They see family-owned farms and small businesses being destroyed by the heavy hand of government and bailouts for big business. They see veterans struggling to obtain the benefits they earned in the uniform of the United States. And they see their country losing faith in itself, with children learning to hate, not love, the greatest nation in human history."

"But where are those tunnels? They're underneath hospitals. They're underneath schools. They're in hard-to-find places. So this is incredibly tough. I feel for the Israeli families. I feel for the American families. And I feel for any other families who've lost a loved one or have someone in a hostage situation, because it's really bleak right now. And it's hard for anyone to feel good about this."

"But why isn't it so easy that we can do that? It's because we don't know where they are. And I have been in those tunnels that are massive, that are sophisticated, and that Hamas uses to hide equipment and ammunition and to do their dirty work and maybe to have those hostages."

"I mean, we desperately want to get those American hostages out. But if you saw those kids in the hands of those terrorists, like, with a mom heart, it made me sick to my stomach for all those parents having to see their children in those terrorist hands. So, of course, we want them out."

"Put an accountant in the White House!"

"No country has a right to the American taxpayer’s money. Our leaders have a responsibility to protect our people and promote our interests. Our politicians aren’t doing that, all the way up to President Joe Biden. It’s about time we had a president who did."

"We are giving huge amounts of cash to countries that vote against us most of the time. That doesn’t make sense. I’ll stop it. America can’t buy our friends. We’ll certainly never buy off our enemies."

"I will cut every cent in foreign aid for countries that hate us. A strong America doesn’t pay off the bad guys. A proud America doesn’t waste our people’s hard-earned money. And the only leaders who deserve our trust are those who stand up to our enemies and stand beside our friends."

"Our foreign-aid policies are stuck in the past. They typically operate on autopilot, with no consideration for the conduct of the countries that receive our aid."

"The Biden administration resumed military aid to Pakistan, though it’s home to at least a dozen terrorist organizations and its government is deeply in hock to China... strongly supported President Donald Trump’s decision to cut nearly $2 billion of military aid to Pakistan because that country supports terrorists who kill American troops.... It was a major victory for our troops, our taxpayers and our vital interests, but it didn’t go nearly far enough. We’ve still given them way too much in other aid. As president, I will block every penny."