Nikki Haley Sets Up Political Future in RNC Convention Speech

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley delivered a speech on Monday endorsing President Donald Trump for reelection, but she also set herself up for her own political future.

Haley began by hearkening back to former President Ronald Reagan’s administration and his U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, who called out Democrats for blaming America first.

Then she endorsed Trump for following in the same political vein as Reagan, portraying him as a tough force backing American foreign policy.

“Donald Trump has always put America first,” Haley said. “He has earned four more years as president.”

She praised the direction of Trump’s foreign policy, taking on China, North Korea, and Iran and standing by Israel, but she did not speak about the president in personal glowing terms.

Biden, Haley argued, was “good for Iran and ISIS and great for Communist China.”

“He’s a godsend to everyone who wants America to apologize, abstain, and abandon our values,” she said, referring to the former vice president.

Haley used Biden’s candidacy to move the clock back to talk about her own political career in South Carolina.

She spoke about how South Carolina created tens of thousands of jobs despite the Obama-Biden administration, noting that it was described as “the beast of the southeast.”

Haley touted her own record of cutting regulations and mandates and cutting taxes in her state to improve the economy.

She recalled her own immigrant identity as the daughter of Indian immigrants who faced “discrimination and hardship” but never harbored “grievance and hate” as a result of their circumstances.

“In much of the Democratic Party, it’s now fashionable to say that America is racist,” she said. “That is a lie. America is not a racist country.”

She also recalled the tragedy at the Mother Emanuel Church, when she was governor, as a white supremacist shooter shot up a Bible study.

Her state, she said, worked together peacefully to heal the wounds of the tragedy.

“What happened then should give us hope now,” she said. “America isn’t perfect, but the principles we hold dear are perfect.”

Haley was once a favorite future presidential candidate by many Never Trump Republicans and also the subject of a political consultant fantasy replacement for Vice President Mike Pence on the Republican ticket in 2020.

But she endorsed both Trump and Pence in the conclusion of her speech.

“In this election, we must choose the only candidate who has and who will continue delivering on that vision,” she said. “President Trump and Vice President Pence have my support.”