America needs to be more like Iowa. That’s my main takeaway after spending time this week holding town halls across the state – my first visit since declaring my candidacy for President earlier this month. Iowa is strong and proud, with conservative leadership all the way.–Nikki Haley

(Of course, Iowa isn’t typical of America.)

Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley is a candidate for President. This is from her 2024 campaign website:

About herself she writes:

Governor Haley brought sweeping reform to South Carolina. She passed ethics reform and signed into law a bill that for the first time required lawmakers to put their votes “on the record”. She improved education and empowered parents by signing a charter school bill that expanded school choice. And she brought South Carolinians together when tragedy struck – both in the aftermath of the racially motivated murders at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, and following the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew.

Here are her views on issues (excerpts from her campaign page):

Creating Jobs

Nikki cut taxes, nixed burdensome government regulations, and made small businesses a state priority.

Holding Politicians Accountable

She took on the establishment in both parties by introducing and ultimately signing a bill that put votes on the record. Nikki also championed and signed an ethics reform package that created an ethics commission to investigate legislators for misconduct (instead of legislators investigating themselves) and required politicians to disclose their private income.

Standing Up for the Unborn

Nikki was one of the most pro-life governors in America.

Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration

She aggressively cracked down on illegal immigration and took on Barack Obama and the D.C. liberals when they stood in the way. In 2011, she signed one of the toughest immigration laws in the country, giving law enforcement more power to check whether people are illegal immigrants.

Protecting our Elections

Nikki is a vocal advocate for voter ID and signed a voter ID bill into law early in her first term as governor.

Expanding Education Freedom

As governor, Nikki successfully pushed for education reform that focused on improving education for South Carolina’s poorest students. She also signed a charter school bill that expanded school choice, and signed a bill eliminating the federal government’s Common Core standards.

Standing Up to the Federal Government

Nikki rejected Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion because she knew another unfunded mandate would be disastrous for taxpayers. She also defended South Carolina’s right-to-work laws when Obama’s National Labor Relations Board sued the state.

Defending our Second Amendment Rights

Nikki is a strong defender of the Second Amendment and fought to protect gun owners’ rights as governor.

Helping Veterans

She focused on easing the transition to civilian life and helping veterans find jobs.

Leading in a Crisis

Nikki turned people’s grief into action, signing the first body camera bill for law enforcement in the country. When natural disasters came to South Carolina, Nikki was proactive with life-saving evacuations, and was a constant and comforting presence throughout the recovery process.  

Reforming the United Nations

From her first day as UN ambassador, Nikki worked to clean up the corrupt and politically-biased UN. She negotiated $285 million in cuts from the UN budget and reached agreements to restructure the UN, including rightsizing UN peacekeeping missions to make them more effective and accountable. She put our enemies on notice and started a process to slash U.S. foreign aid to countries that refused to have America’s back. 

Defending Israel

Nikki has long been a strong defender of Israel.

Repealing the Iran Deal

Known as the “Iran whisperer,” Nikki played a prominent role in President Trump’s decision to repeal President Obama’s disastrous Iran deal.

Advocating for Human Rights

Nikki negotiated a groundbreaking arms embargo on South Sudan through the UN Security Council after the council rejected the same effort by the Obama administration in 2016. When Cuba offered up its annual resolution condemning the U.S. embargo on Cuba in 2018, Nikki didn’t just vote against it—she used the opportunity to force UN votes on amendments condemning the communist regime’s human rights abuses. She also led the United States’ withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, highlighting the council’s terrible record on human rights.

Getting Tough on China

Nikki turned up the heat on China after decades of soft-on-China U.S. policies. Nikki was a strong advocate of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, arguing that it was a flawed agreement that gave China a free pass and would destroy American jobs.

Sanctioning North Korea

Nikki pushed for a tough stance on North Korea from day one, arguing that American presidents have been kicking the can down the road on the brutal regime for too long.

Getting Tough on Russia

When it came to denouncing Russia, Nikki did not mince words. Her first speech before the UN Security Council in 2017 criticized Russia for invading Ukraine.

Leading in Latin America

With a renewed focus on Latin America, Nikki hammered the region’s communist and socialist dictators.

Nikki Haley’s positions focus on traditional Republican talking points: abortion, taxes, regulations, immigration, voter ID, charter schools, anti-union, guns, Israel. She has a great deal to say about the past and nothing about her plans should she be elected–we can infer it would be more of the same.