Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley drew hundreds to a rally at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, where supporters of the long-shot candidate were hopeful for the future of a party that many Utahns consider broken.
Bob Babcock, who lives in the Mt. Olympus area, described the former South Carolina governor’s pitch to voters as having a “positive nature” without name-calling or bickering.
“I’m very troubled about a lot of the things that our party is saying,” Babcock told The Salt Lake Tribune. “The direction that our party’s going is very troubling to me.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Supporters cheer as Nikki Haley speaks during a rally at The Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University in Orem, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
During the rally, Haley did not shy away from attacking former President Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican Party, citing recent GOP losses, such as failed votes on Israel aid and the border bill.
“At some point, if Republicans really want to get this back on track, we’ve got to acknowledge that maybe it’s him,” Haley said. “Maybe Donald Trump is the reason we can’t win.”
Kerry Vance, from Riverton, said she wants her grandkids to have a brighter future and felt inspired by Haley’s message and feels the candidate is “not just talk, but you can tell she’s really sincere.”
“And I’ve had other politicians that have lied to me,” Vance said. “And that’s blatant. And I just felt good coming today and seeing an opportunity for something different.”
Haley, who was introduced by Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, discussed her view on fiscal responsibility, border security and veteran health care to a large crowd at The Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University
“We have to go back to being the party of fiscal discipline,” she said.
On the southern border, Haley said she’d create an online verification system for businesses to use to prove their employees were legally in the country, defund sanctuary cities (municipalities that protect undocumented immigrants), place 25,000 Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the southern border, and reinstate a “remain in Mexico” policy.
Haley spoke about her husband’s experience in the military and shared how it was hard for him when he came back from a year-long deployment. She added it is “shameful how we treat our veterans.”
“We need to take care of them for the long haul,” she said. “That’s why we need telehealth so we can give them the mental health care they need right when they need it.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nikki Haley waves to supporters during a rally at The Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University in Orem, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
Trump wasn’t the only target of the candidate’s ire. Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations, blamed President Joe Biden for the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the lack of a secure border.
She questioned both Biden and Trump’s age and referred to Congress as “the most privileged nursing home in the country.”
“This is nothing to play with,” she told the audience. “These are people making decisions on the future of our economy. These are people making decisions on our national security.”
In an interview with The Tribune after the rally, Haley talked about the importance of states’ rights on issues like land and reproductive rights.
When asked about her views on federal lands, like the back-and-forth of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, Haley said the government needs to acknowledge that people who live in a state need to have a say on what happens to federal lands.
“I think it’s always been important that states have their say in what happens to their land, what happens to their water and what monuments go up or go down — and so I would give states full control on that,” she told The Tribune.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nikki Haley gives a speech during a rally at The Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University in Orem, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
If nominated by Republicans, Haley said “of course” she’d attend an October 2024 presidential debate at the University of Utah.
Haley said she sees abortions as “an incredibly personal issue” and, in regards to a national ban on abortions, people need to be realistic about how a federal law comes into place.
“No Republican president can ban all abortions any more than a Democrat president can ban all the state laws,” she said. Finding a “consensus” is the right answer.
For Haley, that means agreeing on banning late-term abortions, encouraging adoption, making contraception more accessible, and that no state should “tell a woman who’s had an abortion that she’s going to jail or she’s getting the death penalty.”
“We need to humanize this issue and stop demonizing it,” she said.
Haley’s campaign trip to Utah came on the final Wednesday of the 2024 legislative session. State Sens. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, and Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork attended the rally and were on risers behind the candidate.
Utah Republicans will vote in a presidential preference caucus on Super Tuesday, March 5.
