Nikki Haley’s Highlights ― Second Primary Republican Debate

I think we need to look at exactly what happened. Biden showed up on that picket line. But why are those workers actually there? It's because of all of the spending that he has pushed through in the economy that's raised the inflation. So when you look at the fact that we are paying higher gas prices, higher grocery prices, $7,000 more a year for families, what we need to do is I came out with an economic plan. Eliminate the gas and diesel tax so that they have more money in their pocket. Let's focus on going after middle America and cutting taxes for middle America and collapsing those brackets. Let's get rid of unfair distortions like the state and local tax that they give to wealthy people in blue states and not in paid by red states. And let's make sure we make the small business taxes permanent. They only made those temporary. They made the corporate taxes permanent. Let's focus on what it takes to get more cash in the pockets of workers. That's when we'll be able to deal with strikes like this, not sitting on a picket line like Joe Biden. Thank you, Governor Haley. We have other questions to get to about economy. Governor Haley, most illegal immigrants are coming from countries south of the border. You've seen the Fox News drone. It's captured the steady stream of people coming into the country on a daily basis. In fact, I believe we have a live picture of it tonight that is happening right now, live in the last defund sanctuary cities. You see what's happening in Philadelphia right now. It's got to stop. We need to make sure we put 25,000 more Border Patrol and ICE agents on the ground and let them do their job. I spent 400 miles down that border, and I'm telling you, Border Patrol agents aren't allowed to do their job. Let's go back to remain in Mexico policy. Instead of catch and release, let's go to catch and deport. And let's make— What about the aid that we've been—what about the aid that federal taxpayers are paying to deal with the root causes? It's not working, or is it? The only aid that we should be spending right now is to secure the border, the southern border, the northern border, period. You would cut off aid to the region? We need to keep Americans safe, and right now Americans are not safe. Only when we fix the immigration system, only when we get the border secure should we ever look at putting any more money into this. Our money should be about keeping Americans safe. We're not doing that. Joe Biden's not doing that. And you mentioned Congress and shutting down government. I'll make it clear. We have to change the budget process. In four years—in 40 years, Congress has only delivered a budget on time four times in 40 years. If they don't keep the government open, they should not get paid. No pay, no budget. That's the way we should have it. Governor, Governor—Governor Haley, there's a nationwide policing shortage. Retirements are up. Recruitment is in the tank. Morale is at a record low. Three years ago, you signed a pledge to support law enforcement. Now, pledges are a nice idea, but what's your actual plan to get more police on our streets? Well, and I actually did it in South Carolina, too. You know, what we knew in South Carolina was you take care of those who take care of you. We have to start taking care of law enforcement. But it's not just taking care of them with words. It's making sure that you also follow through on what they do. Right now, we have a lot of stolen guns on the street. Well, these law enforcement officers, they arrest these people, and then they go, and they're let out the very next day. So law enforcement feels like they don't—no one has their back. We have to start prosecuting according to the law. We have to make sure we have the backs of law enforcement, and we have to make sure that we're a country of law and order. But I want to go back to China, because I don't think we spent enough time on that. Right now, we have to look at what government's doing to hurt us against China, too. You have a company, U.S. Antibiotics, that produces amoxicillin, the number one antibiotic that we need. And right now, there is a company in Bristol, Tennessee, that produces that, yet our federal government only gets it from China. We need to be focusing on companies that produce in America and supporting those companies that produce in America, not companies that are helping China. Governor, we will be talking foreign policy later. Delia? Thank you, Stuart. We're going to talk healthcare. Governor Haley, healthcare is the leading cause of bankruptcy for American families, accounting for two-thirds of all personal bankruptcies. As president, how you protect Americans who get sick from financial ruin? First of all, how can we be the best country in the world and have the most expensive healthcare in the world? We have an issue. My mom was in the hospital. And when she was in the hospital, they tried to bring her a couple of Tylenol. And she said, I don't need it. And they said, honey, go ahead and take it, because you're paying for it anyway. Why is it that when we got the bill, the insurance company in the hospital negotiated the bill for her without her having anything to do with it? When I am president, we will break all of it, from the insurance company to the hospitals to the doctor's offices to the PBMs to the pharmaceutical companies. We will make it all transparent, because when you do that, you will realize that's what the problem is. Second thing is, you've got to deal with tort law. The lawyer—the doctors don't give you the 10 tests because they want to. It's because of the 90 percent chance they'll get sued. And then we need to bring competition back to healthcare, get rid of certificate-of-need systems, and make sure that they can compete. We have to put the patient in the driver's seat. They've been in the backseat for way too long. And once we give the patient the ability to decide their healthcare, deciding which plan they want, that is when we will see magic happen. But we're going to have to make every part of the industry open up and show us where their warts are, because they all have them, and we need to fix this on behalf of the American people. — the second Republican debate, and let's get back to our questions. Governor Haley, American students, they are in academic trouble. They have lower scores in math and reading. There's chronic absenteeism. That's at record highs. And this has even been called education homicide. You say school choice is the answer, but South Carolina, your home state, still has not enacted universal school choice, and even the current expansion won't be fully implemented until 2027. Parents can't wait four years for a fix. So what would you do right now? — Well, and school choice isn't the only answer, but I'll tell you, it's not out of a lack of trying that we didn't try and get school choice in South Carolina. What I'll tell you, first of all, is we have to acknowledge the fact that 67 percent of our eighth-graders are not proficient in reading or math. Over 80 percent of our eighth-graders aren't proficient in history or civics. And recently, they came out and said our 12- and 13-year-olds are scoring at the lowest levels they've been scoring in reading and math in decades. So the first thing we've got to do is we've got to make sure we catch our kids back up. We have to make sure they can read. A child that can't read by third grade is four times less likely to graduate high school. We need to do reading remediation. We need complete transparency in the classroom. No parent should ever wonder what's being said or taught to their child in the classroom. We need to make sure that we have school choice so that there's competition. We need to move all the programs from the federal government down to the states and let states decide what education looks like in their states. And we need to start building things in America again. Let's put vocational classes back in our high schools, and let's get our kids building the things that we know that we can make. When we start to focus on that and really bring in that parental involvement, that's when we'll start to see a difference. But we've got to get parents back included. We've got to quit spending time on this DEI and CRT and instead focus on financial literacy, on digital literacy, and on making sure that our kids know what they need to do to have the jobs of the next generation. Mexico's president called, who supports sending U.S. military into the country, quote, scoundrels. Mexico is the United States' most important trade partner in border security. You say you will send special operations to attack the cartels in Mexico. So, this means boots on the ground, drone strikes? It means special operations. It's how we deal with our terrorists. And what you need to do is understand that Mexico's not being a good partner if we lost 75,000 Americans last year. Mexico's not being a good partner if they're letting the cartels get away with what they're getting away with. What we will do is we will make sure that we send in our special operations, and we will take out the cartels, we'll take out their operations, we'll take out anything that's doing it. But we're going to go after China, because China is the one sending the fentanyl in the first place. And we will end all normal trade relations until China stops sending fentanyl. And then we'll do the special operations, and we'll get it from both sides. This is where President Trump went wrong. He focused on trade with China. He didn't focus on the fact that they were buying up our farmland. He didn't focus on the fact that they were killing Americans. He didn't focus on the fact that they were stealing $600 billion in intellectual property. He didn't focus on the fact that they put a spy base off our shores in Cuba. They didn't focus enough on the fact that all of our law enforcement drones in America are Chinese, and we've got all these little surveillance cells. We need to start focusing on what keeps Americans safe. That hasn't happened in a long time. As your president, I will make sure every American is safe, and we'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. All right. I want to— Governor Haley, a reaction to that, please. Just because the only person who's leading an energy state, could I answer the energy question? No. Governor Haley. So, you know, the first thing I'll say is, what I saw at the United Nations is national—energy security is national security. We need a president that understands we have to partner with our producers and make sure that they—we have their backs. What you don't need is a president who is against energy independence. Ron DeSantis is against fracking. He's against drilling. He's been against—you did it. Every—he always talks about what happens on day one. You better watch out, because what happens on day two is when you're in trouble. Day two in Florida, you banned fracking, you banned offshore drilling, you did it on federal lands, and you took green subsidies that you didn't have to take. That's true. Governor DeSantis, you were mentioned. It is true. What can day two— You have the right to respond. Thirty seconds. All right. I just did a plan out in West Texas for American energy dominance. We're going to choose Midland over Moscow, we're going to choose the Marcellus over the Molas, and we're going to choose Bakken over Beijing, and we are going to lower your gas prices. We are going to get that job done, because it's important for our national security, it's important for jobs, and that's one of the best ways to drive down inflation. Governor DeSantis— Do you ban fracking if you ban offshore drilling? Governor DeSantis, this question is for you. You banned it before they voted. No, it's not true. You banned it before they voted, and not only that, fracking wasn't—they didn't vote on fracking. Nikki, you're not—she's just totally wrong. They voted it in. Check it. Check it. That's what we did. Onshore, we do do it in Florida. We don't have as much as maybe West Texas, but we do it. But that was the Constitution. So that's just wrong, and let's just get real here. My plan will get the job done. We are going to be energy dominant, and that's what's going to happen. You banned it before the voters even voted, and the voters didn't even vote on fracking. You banned fracking. We are moving on with this question for Governor DeSantis. Governor— That's the only leader of an energy state— Excuse me. We cannot talk over each other. We must respect each other's time. My apologies for that.