In Utah rally, Nikki Haley calls to stop shift in Republican party

In a rapid-fire rally covering national security, federal debt, border politics and a shifting Republican Party, former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley urged Utahns on Wednesday to reclaim their party and stabilize the country.

The place to start, she said, is the state’s Super Tuesday caucuses on March 5. 

The enthusiastic, mostly older crowd frequently interrupted with applause and cheers throughout Haley’s remarks, as she criticized both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, along with criticism of inaction in Congress.

A nation that alienates its allies, is overspent and unaffordable, and is defined by the polarizing politics of two octogenarian men is “not normal,” Haley said.

The presidential longshot’s visit to the Gary R. Herbert Institute of Public Policy at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, comes a day after her latest primary loss, this time in Michigan, where Haley trailed Trump with just 26.5% of the vote. In a gaggle with reporters before the rally, Haley again dodged questions about if or how long she is considering remaining in the race after Super Tuesday. 

Introducing Haley was Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who along with Utah first lady Abby Cox endorsed Haley in January. She called Haley “the real deal.” She called on those in attendance to caucus for Haley on Super Tuesday, and to take their neighbors and family with them. 

“She’s an incredible leader. And her experience, her expertise, the depth and the dignity with which she conducts herself is exactly what our country needs right now,” Henderson said to cheers.

Haley walked out to “I Love Rock ’n Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, earning a standing ovation from the about 500 people in the university’s Noorda Center for the Performing Arts. She gave a shout out to what she said was another 500 watching from an overflow room before diving immediately into her stump speech. 

Standing behind Haley in the crowd on stage were Utah Republican Sens. Todd Weiler and Mike McKell.

Throughout her remarks, Haley pointed to shifts in Republican policy that have cost the party seats around the country. 

It was concerns about the changing GOP that brought Jane and Ren Willie, retirees from Murray, to rally for Haley.

“We want Nikki Haley, because we don’t like the choices of Trump or Biden,” Jane Willie said. “We like her policies, her philosophy, especially her energy, that she keeps going and going and going.”

Ren Willie noted that they like Haley’s value-focused lifestyle.

“We relate to her,” Jane Willie agreed.

Her husband added, “She would make a great president. And it’s about time for a woman to be there.”

Haley’s message started out with a warning about the nation’s position in the world, saying China, Iran and Russia are eyeing America’s debt and she wished she could blame it solely on President Joe Biden.

“Donald Trump and our Republicans did that to us, too,” Haley said, pointing to $2.2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus legislation and promising a balanced budget free of earmarks, a leaner federal government and increased state control of social programs.

If Congress doesn’t deliver a balanced, on-time budget, under her, Haley said, “you don’t get paid. Period.”

The crowd fell silent as Haley spoke grimly of the situation at the southern border. 

Haley promised to defund sanctuary cities, implement a national E-Verify program, add 25,000 Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the ground, and return “to the remain in Mexico policy so that no one even steps foot on U.S. soil.” 

“And instead of catch and release, we’ll go to catch and deport. That is what will stop what’s happening on the border,” Haley said.

The crowd booed to back Haley’s comments criticizing Congress for folding on a border security bill under pressure from Trump.

“Congress needs to get in the room and figure it out, and Trump needs to stay out of it,” Haley insisted, to wide support from the audience.

Focusing on national security, lamenting wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, North Korean missile testing, Chinese cyber attacks and Russian surveillance satellites. Trump’s comments encouraging Putin to invade NATO allies put America and its allies at risk, she said.

“In that one moment of going off the teleprompter … he made our allies more vulnerable. He emboldened Putin, and he put our military members who were serving in those areas in danger,” Haley said.

Haley finished her remarks focused on the perils she sees at home, within the Republican Party, which she said has become fixated on one man rather than its members and their principles. 

“The Republican Party used to be the party of fiscal responsibility. We used to be about smaller government, we used to be about stopping wasteful spending, we used to be about making sure money was more in the pockets of the people than it was in government,” Haley said. 

Urging Utahns to caucus next week to make sure their voice is represented in a shifting Republican party, Haley called on her supporters to keep believing in her mission.

“I need you to know we can do this. But we have to have faith, we have to have the will to be part of the solution. And this is a chance where Utah can show the country the direction that we want to go.”