Nikki Haley has served as the 116th Governor of South Carolina and as the 29th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nation. Now, she is seeking the presidency and, after Donald Trump, Nikki Haley is the first declared Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential nomination.
00:02:43.300You've got to look at, you know, what they do and how they live.
00:02:45.760And I thought that J.D. did an amazing job of really describing who they are, what they care about, and what we need to do as a country to make sure that we let them know we've got solutions that lift up everybody.
00:02:57.660Well, speaking of reaching out to people that one does not typically reach out to, you have had a lot of crossover appeal, more so than many of the candidates who have been talked about as potential nominees.
00:03:09.700What is one time that you have reached across the aisle, successfully or unsuccessfully?
00:03:17.740And what is one issue on which you most likely would not be able to reach across the aisle?
00:03:23.180The hardest issue, I think, of having to deal with reaching across the aisle was after we had the shooting at Mother Emanuel Church.
00:03:31.200And you had a white supremacist come in to a church.
00:03:36.680It was the first time we'd had a shooting in a place of worship.
00:03:40.080And these 12 people did what so many South Carolinians do on a Wednesday night.
00:04:33.300My job was to get them to see the best of themselves and go in a different direction.
00:04:37.680It took two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate.
00:04:41.180But what we were able to do is tap into the best part of people and say, let's put this Confederate flag instead of the front of the State House where it's a living, breathing symbol.
00:04:50.680Let's put it in a museum where it belongs.
00:04:52.700And then move on as South Carolinians.
00:05:21.880And it was, you know, part of who they were.
00:05:24.260And so getting them to see if there's a better place we could go but you don't have to hate each other to do it was really important.
00:05:30.340Now, what would be one issue, because obviously you successfully were able to affect that policy, what would be one issue where you think, I probably couldn't work with the other side if there is one?
00:05:41.800I mean, the one thing I would love to do is term limits because I don't think that that's an issue for Republicans or Democrats.
00:05:49.660I think that's an issue for Americans.
00:06:12.600And when America goes and puts them to where they have to answer and they have to sign a pledge and they have to follow through with it, that's how I think we're going to get it.
00:06:21.080But I think that's going to be incredibly tough because they don't want to leave the power of it all.
00:06:24.200And that's a Republican or a Democrat thing.
00:06:29.980According to the polls, the top issue for everybody is the economy and not just the economy but cost of living, which is through the roof right now.
00:06:38.460But it's a very thorny issue because any policy that you can undertake is going to have consequences that you don't want to see.
00:06:45.560So how does President Haley deal with record high inflation without harming employment?
00:06:53.080Very much like what we had to do in South Carolina.
00:06:55.340You know, when I took on as governor, we had double-digit unemployment and, you know, everything had kind of fallen to the wayside and I had to build the state back up.
00:07:03.100What we need to do in America is first, stop the spending binge that's happening in D.C.
00:07:08.220I mean, it's ridiculous how much they're spending.
00:07:14.480Why are we spending $12 million on a baseball stadium in New York or $15 million for New Jersey to get the World Cup or $6.5 million for golf courses in Colorado?
00:07:41.460We're now borrowing money just to make our interest payments.
00:07:44.480We need to actually focus on pushing the debt down because our kids are never going to forgive us for this.
00:07:49.600But the big sting of what we're going to have to do is look at the supply chain and understand that we've got to start building things in America again.
00:07:58.600And that means when we build things in America, that's what's going to help with inflation.
00:08:02.520And then for all the people who say we can't talk about entitlement reform, guess what?
00:08:06.480You've got to talk about entitlement reform.
00:08:08.660But that means you don't have to take away things that have been promised to people.
00:08:12.960But you do have to look at that new group coming in and say you're going to have to play by different rules.
00:08:18.380I had that situation in South Carolina with pensions.
00:08:21.660We made sure that those that were promised got.
00:08:24.160But we told the new ones coming in, it's a different game for you.
00:08:28.100And they know they're not going to get it anyway.
00:08:30.420And so we've got to start doing something.
00:09:07.420But I don't think we have to raise taxes to do it.
00:09:09.920I think you just have to go back and look at the system and say let's try something new.
00:09:13.920On another big issue that people are focused on, immigration.
00:09:17.580Assuming that you want to put an end to illegal immigration, which most reasonable people do, what do you do about the people already here?
00:09:25.640Do you put them on a path to citizenship?
00:09:27.380Do you not put them on a path to citizenship?
00:09:29.520And furthermore, when it comes to legal immigration, do you restrict it?
00:14:28.260We don't want China moving into Taiwan.
00:14:30.580So the best thing is make sure Taiwan is strong.
00:14:33.280Make sure we're strong with Ukraine and we finish this.
00:14:36.360And then we'll tell every enemy not to go further.
00:14:39.500If Ukraine loses, then we're in a world of hurt.
00:14:41.780And very often these problems compound on themselves.
00:14:45.020Vladimir Zelensky agreed with everything you just said.
00:14:47.760He said had Joe Biden not taken the sanctions off of Russia, Russia would not have invaded.
00:14:54.280Had Joe Biden not actually said if Russia takes on a minor incursion into Ukraine, we won't do very much, Russia very likely would not have invaded.
00:15:03.440So you see that weakness from the previous administration creating problems for whoever the next president is.
00:15:08.940But let's also remember, Russia never would have invaded if we wouldn't have had the debacle in Afghanistan.
00:15:14.380The idea that we left Bagram Air Force Base in the middle of the night without telling our allies who stood shoulder to shoulder with us for decades because we asked them to be there.
00:15:23.560Think about what that told our friends.
00:15:25.700More importantly, think about what that told Putin and Xi.
00:15:29.000They knew they'd never see another weak president like this.
00:15:31.500But what if, well, this very likely would be the case, you inherit an America which had this debacle in Afghanistan, which is projecting weakness around the world, which has fumbled the Ukraine war from before it was a war.
00:15:44.860And so you get in there, through no fault of your own, America's looking very, very weak.
00:15:50.900And Chairman Xi, to whatever degree he wants, is aggressing into Taiwan.
00:17:16.300We have yet to hold them accountable for COVID, which think they closed their borders to people coming in and they opened their borders to people going out.
00:17:24.040And of all the drug issues we have, who's saying anything to China about the fact that the fentanyl is coming from them and they know exactly what they're doing?
00:17:32.120So when we do that and when we start to be strong, it makes a difference.
00:17:36.380But we are giving $46 billion in aid to countries and most of them hate us.
00:17:43.820Why are we giving money to China for the environment?
00:17:48.200Why are we giving money to communist Cuba?
00:17:50.860Why are we giving money to Zimbabwe, the most anti-American African country there is?
00:17:54.900We have to stop giving money to countries that hate America.
00:17:57.840And when we start to say this is different, we're going to be strong, we'll have the backs of our allies, and for those that even try and mess with us, we're going to take names.
00:18:09.220That's when we have to tell those countries what we expect of them instead of being reactionary.
00:18:13.760It's very interesting you say that because you have a reputation, whether this is deserved or not, as more interventionist when it comes to foreign policy.
00:18:22.440And here you are talking about cutting foreign policy.
00:19:58.980We have to go and start looking at our national security.
00:20:01.780I don't care if Americans buy T-shirts and light bulbs from China any more than I care if China buys agricultural products from our farmers.
00:20:09.020But I don't want us to be dependent on an enemy for things that Americans need for security.
00:21:05.600All our jobs had gone to were in textiles, and they all went overseas, and we didn't have anything.
00:21:11.020And so I started recruiting foreign direct investment because I wanted to make things in America again.
00:21:16.380We went to all of our agencies, and we said, if you're costing a person or a business time, you're costing them money, and that's no longer acceptable.
00:22:07.280Speaking of protecting Americans, on the social front, beyond the economic questions, even beyond national security, the social fabric has frayed.
00:22:17.680You're seeing marriage rates plummet to all-time lows.
00:22:20.620You're seeing birth rates plummet to all-time lows.
00:22:23.660You're seeing abortion continue to remain high even after the Dobbs decision.