LIVE: Nikki Haley Holds a Campaign Rally in Spring, Texas 2024-03-04 19:09

[Music] [Music] around they got the be they got the be got the be [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah take [Music] [Music] care [Applause] [Music] ladies and Gentlemen please welcome former Texas State representative Patricia harot hi welcome to Texas my name is Patricia haris I am a daughter a sister a wife a mother a grandmother a Christian and a republican woman and a supporter of Nikki Haley 13 days ago I got to cast my ballot for Nikki Haley for president I immediately got on a plane flew to South Carolina to help knock door for her in South Carolina Nikki talks about the things that are important to me uniting our country doing something about the immigration problem that has become a crisis in our state she talks about this is for our country not for ourselves Nikki Haley is a two-term governor of South Carolina a former US ambassador to the United Nations she is the First Republic woman to win a Republican presidential primary and she's the next Republican president of the United States welcome [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Nikki [Applause] [Music] [Applause] what an awesome sound hello Texas we're thrilled to be here you know when I was governor I always used to refer to South Carolina as Min Texas because we love our freedom and you know it has been almost a year since since I announced I was running for president we had 14 people in the race I defeated a dozen of the fellas I just have one more fella I got to catch up [Music] to you know you look at where we are these are really interesting times in our country you don't have to turn on the news to see how tough it is we're $34 trillion in debt they are we are becoming a trillion dollars more in debt every hundred days you go and you look at all of that spending and all of the debt that we have we are now spending more in interest than we are our defense budget you know who's paying attention to that Russia China and Iran and I would love to tell you that Joe Biden did that to us and he sent us down this roller coaster of socialism that's dangerous and has to stop but I have always spoken in hard truths and I'm going to do that with you today Donald Trump and our Republicans did that to us too you go back and look at that $2.2 trillion Co stimulus bill that they passed with no accountability that expanded welfare that's now left us with 80 million Americans on Medicaid 42 million Americans on food stamps that's a third of our country and did Republicans try and make it right nope they double down and open up pet projects and earmarks for the first time in 10 years pushing through 7,000 of them last year in the 2024 Appropriations budget Republicans put in 7.4 billion worth of pet projects Democrats put in 2 .8 billion now you tell me who the Big Spenders are all while one in six American families can't afford their utility bill 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck 50% of American families can't afford diapers something's got to give don't you think it's finally time we had an accountant in the White [Applause] House so this is what this accountant would do we'd start by clawing back the hundred billion dollars of unspent Co dollars that are still sitting out there instead of 87,000 IRS agents going after Middle America they should go after the hundreds of billions of dollars of covid fraud one out of every $7 was spent fraud if 8% of our budget is interest quit borrowing cut up the credit cards you have to balance a budget every day I had to balance a budget as Governor why is Congress the only group that refuses to balance a budget we'll stop the spending we'll stop the borrowing we'll eliminate the pet projects and I will veto any spending bill that doesn't take us back to preco [Applause] [Music] levels that will save us trillions and then we're going to take as many federal programs as we can and send them down to the states that will dramatically reduce the size of the federal government but it will Empower people on the ground think education think Health Care think welfare think mental health if we cut the strings and send that down so that the people can have access to those resources I would much rather that than Washington bureaucrats making those decisions and then we're watching the rich get richer and the poor get get poor we need to open up the middle class that's why we want to cut taxes on the middle class and simplify the [Applause] brackets we want we want to eliminate the federal gas and Diesel tax in this country and we want to make sure we make small business tax cuts permanent small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy we need to start acting like [Applause] [Music] that and we will make our energ sector energy dominant we will open it all [Music] up that's how we'll take care of our economy but you know speaking of Congress they have one job just one job and that's to give us a budget on time well don't turn on the news because they failed at it again do you know Congress has only given us a budget on time four times in 40 years four times in 40 years you know what I say about that when I'm president you don't give us a budget on time you don't get paid [Applause] period don't you think it's finally time we had turn limits in Washington [Applause] DC don't you think we need to have mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75 [Applause] and let me say this I'm not being disrespectful when I say that we all know people who are over 75 that can run circles around us and then we know Joe Biden Congress has become the most privileged Nursing Home in the country it's true these are people making decisions on our national security these are people making decisions on the future of our economy we need to know they're at the top of their game it's not anything to play with and then let's talk about the Border I can't believe this is happening in the United States of America 9 million illegal immigrants have come to that border we had more Sentinel cross the border last year that would kill every single American number one cause of death for adults 18 to 45 Sentinel and don't think for a second China doesn't know what they're doing when they send it over now when I was governor of South Carolina we passed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country President Obama sued us over it and we won I want to take what we did in South Carolina and go National with it we want a national ever verify where every business has to prove that they are the people they hire are in this country legally we need to defund Sanctuary cities once and for [Applause] all we need to put 25,000 border patrol and Ice agents on the ground and let them do their job we'll go back to the remain of Mexico policy so that no one steps foot on us soil and instead of catching release we'll go to catch and Deport that is how we will stop what happens on the board but you know we had Congress had a bill a couple of weeks ago on the border and if you look at that bill the good part of the bill was it strengthened Asylum laws we have to do that three million illegal immigrants came in under Trump because our Asylum laws weren't strong enough so we have to do that the weak part about the bill it didn't have remain Mexico and we have to have that and it had a 5,000 person threshold we can't even have a one person threshold but the part that you should be upset with is what Congress should have done was gone into a room and not come out until they have a strong border bill to help [Applause] us but Donald Trump went and told them not to pass anything until after November because it would hurt him in the general election we [Music] can't we can't wait one more day to secure that border we've got to secure it [Music] now you look at what governor Abbott's doing he's doing everything he's supposed to do to protect the people of Texas but but Congress needs to get in a room figure it out and pass a strong border Bill and Donald Trump needs to stay out of it we can't [Applause] wait and then you know I grew up in rural South Carolina and my parents always taught me you take care of those who take care of you but I'm going to ask you if we're taking care of those who take care of us right now in America over 35,000 of our veterans are homeless one and three suffers from PTSD or thoughts of suicide we lose 22 Heroes a day to suicide if a veteran needs a doctor's appointment at the VA on average it takes 29 days why 29 days because on the 30th day they can go to the doctor or Hospital of their choice so Midway through the 29 days they get a call to reschedule and the clock starts all over again it is shameful how we treat our veterans now I'm the proud wife of a combat veteran who served in [Applause] Afghanistan and when Michael came home to us that was a lot of prayers answered but that was the easy part when we got home life got hard Michael couldn't hear loud noises he couldn't be in crowds life had passed him by for the year that he was gone and the transition was tough we can't just love our men and women when they're gone we got to love them when they come back home [Music] [Applause] too let's do better than just a two- week transition let's take care of them for the Long Haul that's why we need to have tella health so they get the mental health care they need right when they need it we should let them go to the doctor or Hospital of their choice they they've earned that [Applause] [Music] right and I think the best way we take care of VA health care I think every member of Congress should have to get their health care from the VA and you watch how fast that gets [Applause] go it'll be the best healthare you've ever seen guaranteed and speaking of military let's talk about National Security the world is on fire literally you've got a war in Europe you've got a war in the Middle East you've got North Korea testing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US you've got China doing cyber attacks on our infrastructure and now we have Russia blinding satellites so we can't see anything that they're sending or doing but make no mistake none of this would have happened had we not had that debacle in Afghanistan abely the idea that Michael and his military brothers and sisters who served there had to watch us lead bogam Air Force Base in the middle of the night without telling our allies who stood shoulder toosh shoulder with us for decades because we asked them to be there think about what that said to our friends more importantly think about what that said to our enemies now is the time we have to have a leader who has moral [Applause] [Music] Clarity we need someone who knows the difference between right and wrong between good and [Applause] bad and you look two weeks ago and Donald Trump said that he would encourage Putin to invade our allies [Applause] now think about that for a second Donald Trump's willing to side with a thug where half a million people have been wounded or killed because Putin invaded Ukraine Donald Trump's willing to side with a dictator who kills his political opponents Donald Trump's willing to side with a tyrant who arrests American journalists and holds them hostage Donald Trump wants to side with a Madman who's made no bones about the fact that he wants to destroy America and you're going to side with him over our allies who stood with us after 9/11 America can never be so arrogant to think we don't need friends we need a lot of [Applause] friends now I will be the first one to tell you I don't think we should give cash to any country friend or enemy because you can't follow it and you can't hold it accountable but when it comes to our focus it should always be how do we prevent War it's the number one Mission how do we prevent war and so when you go and you hear Putin say once he takes Ukraine Poland and the baltics are next those are NATO countries that immediately puts America at War we're trying to prevent War the focus should always be to prevent War and so when you have a president you can't do what Joe Biden is by putting your head in the sand and you can't do what Donald Trump is by getting weak in the needs with Putin you have to do what I did at the United Nations which is I told countries what America was for and what America was against I didn't care if they didn't like me but we wanted them to respect [Applause] America look we know what we need to do on National Security we know what we need to do on domestic policy now let's talk about what you need to do tomorrow we have spent we have literally been in 10 states in the past week we are anywhere and everywhere trying to let people know what their choice is tomorrow and the choice comes down to this we can either have more of the same or we can go in a New Direction more of the same is not just Joe Biden more of the same as Donald Trump but let me tell you why this matters to me first you should know this is not personal for me I voted for Donald Trump twice I was proud to serve America and his administration but chaos follows him and we can't be a country in disarray in a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos we won't survive it but look at the last couple of months they said that we were going to be down 30 35 points in the polls in New Hampshire and we ended up getting 43% of the [Music] [Applause] vote and I don't know if you watched election night but Trump was completely unhinged he went off about revenge and my dress by the way then the next day he said anyone who supports her is barred permanently from [Applause] Maga the problem with that is if you're running for president your job is to bring people in not push people out of your Club then the next day he tries to get the RNC to name him the presumptive nominee no we don't anoint Kings in America we have elections and Texans deserve the right to be able to vote and then he had a couple of court cases where he had some judgments against him and he went on without being a victim now the problem I have with whether it was the night of New Hampshire or whether it was after these court cases at no point did he ever talk about the American people at no point did he talk about the fact that we're $34 trillion in debt at no point did he talk about the fact that only 31% of eighth graders in our country are proficient in Reading at no point did he talk about the fact that he stopped stopped us from getting a congressional strong border bill at no point did he talk about the fact there were lawlessness in our cities and at no point did he talk about the wars around the world all he did was talk about himself and that's the problem this isn't about him this is about the American [Applause] [Music] people and you will see I will always fight for every freedom for you to have and you look there was a court case the Supreme Court ruled today that Donald Trump could stay on the ballot and no I think I think that was important we don't ever want some elected official in a state or anybody else saying who can and can't be on a ballot this is America this is America look I'll defeat Donald Trump fair and square but I want him on that ballot [Applause] but this is also about the fact that what's happening in America because at no point is anybody Joe Biden or Donald Trump talking about our debt talking about the wasteful spending talking about how taxpayer dollars are being abused but Donald Trump's not going to because he put us8 trillion dollars in debt in just four years he loves to say that was about Co that was less than 20% and what happened I think we need to shrink the size of government he grew the size of government I think we need to clean out our agencies he added to them I think we need to make sure that we have more ability to have people on the ground get those resources than Washington DC and he allowed DC to continue on but more than that we have to talk about this debt because we are that's National Security when we are losing the value of a dollar when it is shrinking because we're not spending and what are Republicans doing they're following Donald Trump's lead that's why they open up the pet projects in the ear marks that's why they continue to spend and then what else are we seeing you're seeing the fact that in National Security it was always peace through strength it was always that we need more friends because our alliances intimidated the enemy and now you see Donald Trump's walking back from that there is nothing worse than America alone because if you have America alone when we need something they are not going to be there for us and we can never be so arrogant to think we won't need friends because we will and we need to focus on what it takes to get America back on track America is so distracted right now and when America's distracted the world is less safe and that's playing out but even look at the Republican party as those principles are changing and going with Donald Trump so is the party structure the RNC was always about winning seats up and down the ticket and now before the primary is over Donald Trump is putting his daughter-in-law as the head of it he's putting his campaign manager to run it he spent $60 million in campaign contributions on his own personal court cases and now now he's going to [Music] make and now he's going to make the RNC his own legal slush fund but also look at the fact what has happened since he did become president I was in Michigan now Michigan in 2012 I was there they were celebrating they had they were winning up and down the ticket they had passed right to work they really were a beacon but look at Michigan now since Donald Trump became president they lost the governor's mansion they lost the state house they lost the state senate then I went to Minnesota the exact same thing happened then I went to Colorado no Republican has gotten over 45% Statewide since Donald Trump became president then I went to Virginia the same thing and the only reason Glenn yunan was able to hold on was because he distanced himself from Donald Trump we lost in 2018 we lost in 2020 we lost in 2022 but look two weeks ago Republicans lost the vote on mayorcas they lost the vote on Israel the RNC chair lost her job and Donald Trump's fingerprints were on all of it how much more losing do we have to do before we realize maybe Donald Trump is the [Applause] [Music] problem and don't take my word for it look at the poll in any one of the polls that are out there he squeaks by in all those same polls I defeat Joe Biden by up to 18 [Applause] points do you know what that means that's bigger than the presidency that's house that's Senate that's governorships that's School boards that's really getting our country back on track but you win with that kind of mandate a double digit win you go into DC and we stop the wasteful spending and get our economy back on track that's a mandate to go to our kids with school get them back reading again and go back to the basics in education that's a mandate to secure our borders with no more excuses that's a mandate for Law and Order back in our cities and that's a mandate for a strong America that prevents Wars that we can all be proud of don't you want [Applause] that [Applause] because we could have that but in order to have that it's going to take a lot of courage courage for me to run and courage for every one of you to know don't complain about what happens in a general election if you don't play in this primary it matters it matters you know eight months ago I dropped my husband Michael off at 4:00 a.m. for another yearlong deployment and I and I watched him and 230 soldiers pick up their two duffel bags of belongings to go to a country they've never been all in the name of protecting America they're willing to sacrifice their lives and their families because they still believe in this amazing experiment that is America so if they're willing to sacrifice for for us there shouldn't we be willing to fight for America [Applause] here because we have a country to save but I'll say this I'm not doing this for me clearly I think I've made my point I'm not doing this to be vice [Music] president I'm not doing this for a political career if that was the case I'd been out a long time ago I'm doing this for my kids I'm doing this for your kids and your grandkids look at what this younger generation has been through they went through Co which was traumatic by the way it was handled then they wonder what this $34 trillion doll of debt is going to mean to them because they know they're going to be responsible for it they worry about getting a job they worry about making ends meet they they don't think they're ever going to be able to afford a home and they worry about wars around the world and all of that is under this umbrella in America of anger and Division and then we want to know why there's so much stress anxiety and depression out there our kids deserve to know what normal feels like under Joe Biden it is not normal to have millions of illegal immigrants coming across the border and nobody stopping them it is not normal to care more about in schools about gender pronouns than whether the kids can read them it's not normal to go and have these wars around the world but under Donald Trump it's not normal to side with a dictator over our allies under Donald Trump it's not normal to mock the members of the military it's not normal to to spend campaign contributions on your personal court cases and it's not normal to have Joe Biden call his opponents fascist and Donald Trump call his opponents Vermin none of that is normal we can do better than two 80-year-old candidates for [Applause] president [Applause] it is time for a new generational leader who can leave the negativity in the baggage behind and get to work for the American [Applause] [Music] [Applause] people you know when I first announced they asked me why I was running and I said my parents came here 50 years ago to an America that was strong and proud and full of possibilities I want them to know that country again I'm doing this for Michael and his military brothers and sisters they need to know their sacrifice matters they need to know that we love our country I'm doing this for my daughter who just got married and I saw how hard it was for her and her husband to buy a home the average home buyer in America now is 49 years old the American dream is leaving them and I'm doing this for my son who's a senior in college and I am tired of watching him write papers of things he doesn't believe in just to get an A that's not us that's not a AMAC and for the first time 81% of Americans don't think their kids are they're going to live as good of a life as we did we can't be okay with that I'm not okay with that we do have a country to save but now we get the opportunity to save her so this is what I need you to do I need you to go [Music] vote I need you to take 10 people with you I need you to get a yard sign and if you're one of those people who can't have a yard sign in your yard put in the back of your car I need you to call text email all your friends and family because you would be amazed at how many people are just general election voters and I want you to give them a message for me in a general election we're given a choice in a primary we make our choice it's time for us to make that choice thank you very much Texas God bless you thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you and my reputation [Applause] [Music] [Applause] reputation want to prove my [Music] [Applause] station give [Music] [Applause] aut