Vivek Ramaswamy: Nikki Haley’s Ukraine Rhetoric Would Put Her on Board of Defense Contracting Companies

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy attacked fellow candidate Nikki Haley during Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate, saying her rhetoric will make her a friend of the military-industrial complex.

Haley delivered an articulate defense for the need to provide Ukraine with aid, saying the country is the “first line of defense” against Russian leader Vladimir Putin. She also said that NATO countries such as Poland could be at risk because of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.

“I wish you well in your future career on the board of Lockheed & Raytheon,” Ramaswamy said. 

Haley then exclaimed, “I’m not on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon!”

Breitbart News’s John Binder reported that former United Nations Ambassador Haley raked in more than $256,000 as a member of Boeing’s Board of Directors during her tenure.

Boeing has long been a recipient of corporate welfare and is at the center of the military-industrial complex.

Binder noted:

Boeing is already the second-largest beneficiary of Defense Department contracts. In 2017, Boeing noted that about 79 percent of its profits came from government contracts with the U.S. federal government. Likewise, Boeing saved about $1.1 billion thanks to tax cuts while simultaneously laying off 6,000 American workers in Washington state alone.

…

A 2019 report detailed how Boeing outsourced American software jobs to mostly Indian foreign graduates for $9 an hour. In June 2019, reports stated that Boeing’s problems with its 737 Max fleet coincided with executives outsourcing U.S. software jobs to foreign workers through HCL Technologies Ltd. — an India-based outsourcing firm.

In 2018, Boeing executives announced their plans to outsource a manufacturing plant to Bengaluru, India, where 3,000 Indian workers would be employed.

As Haley has continued to voice her support for Ukraine, the Heritage Foundation has released an ad detailing how the current $113 billion in aid to Ukraine costs $900 per household: