Nikki Haley: The Newest GOP Presidential Candidate

Lana Khalaf

On February 14, 2023, Nikki Haley announced her candidacy for president, making her one of Donald Trump’s opponents in the upcoming primaries. Who is she, and what has she done? She has served as two-term governor of South Carolina and as UN Ambassador. As daughter of Indian-American immigrants, Haley became the first minority female governor in America when elected governor. She had a successful governorship, and once Trump was elected president, she was nominated to serve as UN Ambassador, which she did for several years. So, as Trump’s first serious opponent, what are her stances on key issues?

Abortion

For starters, Haley has described herself as “very pro-life” which makes it clear what her stance on that is (Palmer). For most of her career, she has worked towards anti-abortion legislation including signing a bill in 2016 that banned abortion after 19 weeks in South Carolina. Haley also supports abortion being a state-level issue which means if elected president, she likely will not make this issue a priority.

Medicaid and Medicare

Haley has been consistent in her efforts to block any further expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, she does not wish to expand health insurance. She supports changing the Medicare system as well and the way it operates. If elected, she will continue to push for changing the way these two welfare systems work.

Schools & Education

Nikki Haley is reluctant to support critical race theory in schools. She also backed Ron DeSenatis’ “don’t say gay” bill in 2022, which bans classroom discussions on sexual orientation and even claimed that the law “doesn’t go far enough” (Palmer). She values basic conservative ideologies in this regard and has repeatedly shown support for other governors’ actions to further this Republican agenda within schools and in other aspects.

Immigration

As the daughter of immigrants, this issue is important to Haley. She is against open borders, but also believes that the current US immigration system is “broken” and needs to be fixed, presumably by her (Murray). She opposes illegal immigration and says that the US must welcome in “properly vetted legal immigrants” whose intentions are well known amidst this age of terrorism (Murray). While this issue is important to her, she is not exactly left-leaning about this key issue and will work to reform only some factors in the immigration system.

All that being said, Haley is not that promising of a candidate as of right now. She is not a nationally recognized name yet, especially when compared to Trump and other candidates, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence. The United States will have to wait and see how these primaries play out, and if Haley can make it out of the primaries.

Sources:
Haley, Nikki. “About Nikki.” Nikki Haley, https://nikkihaley.com/about/. Accessed 24

February 2023.
Murray, Mark. “Here's where Nikki Haley stands on key issues.” NBC News, 15 February 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/nikki-haley-stands-key-issue s-rcna70838. Accessed 24 February 2023.
Palmer, Ewan, et al. “What Nikki Haley Believes.” Newsweek, 14 February 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/nikki-haley-beliefs-opinion-republican-2024-1781155. Accessed 24 February 2023.

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