SC’s Nikki Haley says she focused on helping get ‘good people’ elected
In an event meant to steer clear of politics, former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley sidestepped a question about her potential political future, but used the occasion to talk about the looming threat of China.
Organizers of Saturday’s Palmetto Chapter Army Engineer Association Castle Rally kept the event apolitical, as it included more than 250 people in attendance in military dress or formal attire. The former South Carolina governor was invited to participate in the question and answer session because she is currently not an elected official.
Haley, whose husband, Michael, serves in the South Carolina National Guard, was asked, however, what the future holds for her, a question that received a few laughs.
She said she is campaigning across the country to help House members, senators and governors get good people elected.
“That’s the big thing I’m focused on, and I don’t think I have to focus on my next step until the first part of 2023, so I think I’ve got some time to think about it,” Haley said.
Haley has made trips to the early presidential caucus and primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire within the last year, raising suspicions she may be planning a run in 2024.
She has said, however, she would not run if former President Donald Trump seeks to regain the office.
Haley, who left the Trump administration in 2018, used her remarks to discuss China and how the country is the biggest national security threat to the United States.
“I think that if you look at presidents prior, Republican and Democrat, they all thought that if we were nice to China, China would want to be like us,” Haley said. “China doesn’t want to be like us. They are communists. We have to change the way we act toward China.”
She said China has built up and modernized its military, invested in projects around the world, held Muslim leaders in camps, has stolen intellectual property, and has attempted to steal of COVID-19 vaccines.
And as the Tokyo Games near their conclusion, Haley said the U.S. should boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“In their last Olympics, it was their coming out party, it was them showing the world that they were a leader,” Haley said, referring to the 2008 Summer Olympics. “If the Beijing Olympics happens and it goes on without any hiccups, this is their way of showing they are now the new number one superpower.”
She ended her roughly 25 minutes of remarks referring to difficult tasks she had as ambassador, including a visit to Congo, where rape is used as a weapon of war, and speaking to women in South Sudan who had their babies taken away and thrown into fires.
“I looked at the deaths of children who died from chemical weapons from (Bashar) al-Assad in Syria,” Haley said. “I don’t care what the TV says, I don’t care what the rhetoric is. Don’t ever forget that even on our worst day, we’re blessed to live in America.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2021 at 9:27 PM.
