Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley visited Spartanburg on Feb. 5, looking to bolster support ahead of the Republican Primary, which took place on Feb. 24. Haley was down in the polls to Former President Donald Trump at the time of the rally, proving to have a difficult road ahead of her in the Palmetto state.
At the packed event, Haley spoke on a wide range of topics, touting her resume as a popular South Carolina governor and Ambassador to the United Nations. She also spoke on the current state of the economy and foreign affairs. She would oftentimes circle back to take a stab at her competitors, current President Joe Biden and Former President Trump.
Haley has touted her coalition of college age voters as a critical part of her campaign for the White House. Unfortunately, the college-aged turnout for the rally in Spartanburg’s college town was not ideal.
Haley has been a divisive candidate among many college-age voters for her calls to ban the popular social media app “TikTok” and to raise the retirement age.
It is because of this aim towards college-aged voters that The Old Gold & Black asked the Haley campaign team the following questions:
Q: College-aged voters have long been considered a Democratic bloc. How does (Haley) plan on bringing those voters over to her camp?
A: “Nikki’s children are 22 and 25, and she sees what they’re up against – from wokeness on campus to concerns about inflation, buying a home, and the American Dream being out of reach. She’s committed to addressing those issues, which is why she’s invested in coalitions like Students for Haley and Young Americans for Nikki.”
Q: What roles have college students played in Nikki’s campaign so far and how do you plan to utilize them in the future?
A: “Nikki Haley launched Students for Haley with a stunning 25 inaugural chapters at college campuses across the country. The coalition has since grown to 49 chapters. In addition to phone banking and other grassroots and GOTV efforts, SFH holds the line on many liberal college campuses.”
Q: What is Nikki’s plan to tackle the college debt crisis for current college students?
“Higher education, like government, has become too focused on growing bureaucracy instead of improving student outcomes. I’ll work to ensure students have more options for quality education at a lower cost—without resorting to unfair and budget-busting handouts like mass student loan forgiveness.”
Q: What strategies has Nikki used to reach college-aged voters?
A: “In addition to the active chapters of Students for Haley and Young Americans for Nikki (organized in all 50 states to reach the often-forgotten demographic of 25- to 40-year-olds), Nikki Haley has spoken at conferences like the Run GenZ annual event in Des Moines Iowa. She has also held virtual meetings with members of the SFH and YAN coalitions. Her son, Nalin, who himself is a college student, has also joined some of those meetings virtually.”
Q: What is Nikki’s stance on AI and its implications for future job seekers?
A: “Nikki Haley doesn’t view artificial intelligence as inherently good or bad. There are innovations that can come from it, whether that be in healthcare or education. But there are some warning signs that, if we don’t deal with it the right way, it could be dangerous. She does not want to see it overregulated, but she also wants guardrails in place to protect Americans.
She similarly believes that there can be new opportunities and jobs created by AI, so the goal should be to make sure that people have the ability to train for new jobs that are coming in.
When Nikki Haley became governor of South Carolina, the state had double-digit unemployment, and it was a hub for textile manufacturing. But as those jobs went overseas, Governor Haley sought new opportunities for the state. As companies like Volvo and Mercedes Benz set up shop, she worked to make sure folks could get the training they needed for the jobs that were being created.
Nikki Haley turned South Carolina into an economic powerhouse that became dubbed the ‘Beast of the Southeast.’ She wants to take that playbook national.”
Haley has decided that, no matter how the South Carolina Primaries went, she would be in the race for the long haul.
“We will have a female president of the United States, hard truth it’ll be me or Kamala Harris,” Haley said.
