Nikki Haley in Third GOP presidential primary debate
On Budget & Economy:
Trump responsible for $8 trillion of US debt
Q: Why you and not the former president?Nikki Haley: We're almost $34 trillion in debt. 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, 50% of American families can't afford diapers. One in six American families can't pay their utility bills.
You have parents who are worried about what's being said or taught to their child in the classroom, there's no transparency. We have antisemitism all over our college campuses and students feel unsafe.
You've got an open border where terrorists can come through and we've got wars happening all over us and there are dangers around us. Everybody wants to talk about President Trump. Well, I can talk about President Trump.
I can tell you that I think he was the right president at the right time. I don't think he's the right president now. I think that he put us $8 trillion in debt and our kids are never going to forgive us for that.
Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Nov 8, 2023
On Drugs:
We'll send special operations in to take out drug cartels
Nikki Haley: We'll send special operations in to take out the cartels. We need to go to where they're distributing it, where the supply centers are and take them out. We'll put 25,000 more Border Patrol and ICE agents on the ground and let
them do their job. We will defund sanctuary cities. We will go back to the Remain in Mexico policy so that everybody stays in Mexico and they never get here in the first place.
Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Nov 8, 2023
On Foreign Policy:
It is not that Israel needs America; America needs Israel
Q: The Israel-Hamas war is a month old. As President, what would you be urging Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do?Nikki Haley: We need to be clear-eyed. The last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do. The only thing we should
be doing is supporting them in eliminating Hamas. It is not that Israel needs America, America needs Israel. They are the tip of the spear when it comes to this Islamic terrorism and we need to make sure that we have their backs in that process.
Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Nov 8, 2023
On Homeland Security:
Strengthen our military; send message to China
Nikki Haley: When we strengthen our military, when we modernize it with the focus of cyber, artificial intelligence, and space, when we make sure that we have the backs of our friends, and we should be arming Taiwan. Make sure they
have the equipment they need, make sure they have the training they need now. There is nothing China fears more than knowing that America will have Taiwan's back. Let's make sure that we show it by making sure they have the equipment they need.
Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Nov 8, 2023
On Principles & Values:
It's important to know how to defeat terrorism and socialism
Nikki Haley: The world is on fire. We have a war in Europe. We've got a war in the Middle East. We've got China on the march. It is very important that we know how to defend our freedoms and how to defeat terrorism and socialism.
We have to know the difference between good and evil. We have to know the difference between right and wrong. We need to know that a strong America doesn't start wars, a strong America prevents wars.
Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Nov 8, 2023
On Social Security:
Limit benefits on the wealthy; increases based on inflation
Any candidate that tells you that they're not going to take on entitlements, is not being serious. Instead of cost of living increases, we should go to increases based on inflation. We should limit benefits on the wealthy. And then expand Medicare
Advantage plans. Seniors love that and let's make sure we do that so that they can have more competition. That's how we'll deal with entitlement reform and that's how we'll start to pay down this debt.Fact Check: COLA definition from SSA.gov:
Since 1975, Social Security's general benefit increases have been based on increases in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index [a measure of the rate of inflation]. We call such increases Cost-Of-Living Adjustments, or
COLAs. We determined a 3.2% COLA on October 12, 2023.
Fact Check by UsInflationCalculator.com: The annual inflation rate for the US was 3.7% for the previous 12 months, according to Labor Department data published on Oct. 12, 2023.
Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Nov 8, 2023
On Tax Reform:
First thing I'll do is eliminate federal gas and diesel tax
Nikki Haley: I can tell you what we're seeing now in America is the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. We have to go and start beefing up the middle class and the first thing I would do is I'll eliminate the federal gas and
diesel tax in this country. We'll cut taxes on the middle class, but we have to stop the spending binge that's happening by Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Nov 8, 2023
Page last updated: Nov 18, 2023