Candidate Deep-Dive: Nikki Haley Surging, But Still Lags Trump
Does she have a shot at becoming America’s first woman president?
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Good morning,
Some big news for many of us who never get the recommended 8 hours of sleep…
A new study found that sleep “regularity”—going to bed and waking up at consistent times with few interruptions—matters more than how long you sleep in terms of life expectancy.
So parents— there’s hope for us yet!
Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney
🗞 MEET PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NIKKI HALEY
Former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has been rising in the polls in early voting states, especially after strong debate performances. She still lags far behind frontrunner Donald Trump, but she argues she’s strongest nominee to take on President Biden.
The WSJ says she’s what the country needs to take on Trump and Biden.
We will be profiling the leading presidential candidates in the coming weeks. Today, we take a deeper look at Nikki Haley, and how she went from financial accounting to the race for the White House.
Breaking News: One candidate we will no longer need to profile: Sen. Tim Scott. He dropped out of the race on Sunday night, saying it wasn’t his “time.”
PERSONAL LIFE
Back to Haley. She was was born to Indian Sikh parents who immigrated to the United States from Canada.
Haley has three siblings, one of whom served in Operation Desert Storm as a member of the United States Army chemical corps.
When Haley was four, her mother opened a clothing store called Exotica International, which grew into a multimillion-dollar business.
At 13, Haley began overseeing the store’s financial books, and after graduating from Clemson in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in accounting, she became the company's Chief Financial Officer.
Nikki Haley met her husband William Michael Haley in college, and got married in 1996. They have two children together: daughter Rena, and son Nalin. Michael, a major in the National Guard, was deployed during Nikki's tenure as South Carolina governor. He is currently serving another year-long deployment in Djibouti.
📍Fun Fact: Before college, Michael was called Bill, which is short for his first name, William. When he started dating Nikki, she didn't think "Bill" fit him, so she started calling him by his middle name Michael. "Everyone who knows him before I did knows him as Bill, and everyone who met him after I did knows him as Michael."
Haley wearing a shirt on the campaign trail in Iowa that reads: "Underestimate me. That'll be fun.”
HER CAREER IN POLITICS
Haley's career in politics began in 2004 when she defeated a longstanding incumbent to win a seat in the South Carolina House. Haley then ran for Governor in 2009, making her the first person to be elected the Governor of South Carolina who wasn’t a white man.
Tenure as Governor: In her six years as Governor, Haley cut taxes and favored stricter laws on immigration, abortion, and voting — largely sticking to GOP orthodoxy. One area she didn't follow the Republican party’s national trend: calls to prohibit transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice. She dismissed such laws as unnecessary.
2011: Signed a law authorizing police to stop and check the immigration status of arrestees, and employers to check citizenship status of job applicants and employees
2015: A nod to bipartisanship: Haley was governor when a white supremacist and neo-Nazi murdered nine Black parishioners. Haley was able to work with Democrats and Republicans in her state to convince the South Carolina legislature to vote to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds. She said the flag was "an integral part of our past [but] does not represent the future of our great state.”
2016: Signed legislation banning abortions at 20 weeks
Tenure as UN Ambassador: Nikki Haley was outspoken as UN Ambassador under President Trump, especially concerning Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Under Haley, the U.S. withdrew from the UN's Human Rights Council, citing bias against Israel, among other reasons.
"This disproportionate focus and unending hostility towards Israel is clear proof that the council is motivated by political bias, not by human rights," Haley said when explaining the U.S. decision to withdraw.
In 2018 Haley resigned from her UN post on her own terms. She received a glowing parting speech from Trump — a rarity among cabinet officials who left his administration.
FLIP FLOPS ON TRUMP
Nikki Haley was not initially a fan of Trump, endorsing two of his 2016 GOP opponents. Still, Trump was willing to make her a part of his administration when he nominated her for UN Ambassador. In early 2016 while still South Carolina Governor, Haley said she was "embarrassed" by Trump and decried his reluctance to condemn white supremacists.
Other times she was even more direct, saying Trump represented "everything a governor doesn't want in a President."
Haley blamed Trump for the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, and suggested the GOP would move on without him. By October 2021, she said: "We need him in the Republican Party. I don't want us to go back to the days before Trump."
She said she wouldn't run against him if he ran again, but then backtracked, and announced her candidacy in February 2023.
📌 WHERE SHE STANDS ON KEY ISSUES
Abortion: Haley is pro-life, and says Republicans need to be "honest" about the country's appetite for abortion restrictions.
She noted that Republicans pushing for a federal abortion ban are not being forthright about the reality of passing such legislation, as it would need 60 Senate votes - highly unfeasible.
Immigration: As governor, Haley signed some of the toughest immigration laws in the country. But she also describes immigrants and refugees as part of the fabric of American society.
Haley has called to "close" the border and defund "sanctuary cities."
She said undocumented immigrants already in the country should be divided between those working and paying taxes, and "those that are feeding off the system. If they're feeding off the system, you send them back."
China: She has made a tough-on-China stance a core tenet of her 2024 campaign.
Haley calls China the "strongest and most disciplined enemy" ever faced by the U.S. She says China has been preparing for war, and we need to challenge them.
In 2015, Haley ranked Number 1 among Republican governors in Chinese investment. When adjusted for GDP, she brought in over $565 million in Chinese investment to the state.
Ukraine: She has made a forceful case for the need to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia, even as a majority of Republican voters no longer want to send aid to Ukraine.
Haley called Putin a tyrant who will not stop with Ukraine, saying he will invade Eastern Europe if he isn't stopped.
“This is bigger than Ukraine. This is a war about freedom, and it's one we have to win,” Haley said.
Guns: Haley has said she is against new gun laws, like an assault weapons ban, and believes getting rid of AR-15s will not prevent mass shootings.
Haley said she would focus on getting illegal guns off the streets, beefing up security at schools (including a point-of-entry officer), making sure there are mental health counselors for students, and that gun owners are appropriately vetted.
However, Haley is against red-flag laws allowing law enforcement to take guns away from those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
Spending & Debt: Haley’s economic plan would eliminate the federal gas tax, reduce income tax rates, make small-business tax relief permanent, and end certain tax deductions, like the deduction for state and local income taxes (SALT).
Haley says if elected, she would veto any spending bill that doesn't take the U.S. back to pre-Covid levels. “Why is Congress the only group that doesn't have to balance a budget?" Haley, a former accountant, said.
She has criticized Trump's handling of the economy: “[he] didn't do anything on fiscal policy and really spent a lot of money, and we're all paying the price for it."
Climate Change: Haley has acknowledged that climate change is real, and caused by humans, but has generally rejected governmental efforts to reduce emissions.
As ambassador to the UN, Haley was closely involved in withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. "We're not the problem. The Chinese and the Indians are the problem,” she says.
She has supported greater use of carbon capture technology to remove carbon from the air — a potential solution that is very costly.
Social Security: Haley has suggested she would raise the Social Security retirement age for people currently in their 20’s in accordance with increases in life expectancy, though she has not given a number. (The retirement age is currently 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.)
She added that she would not change benefits for "anyone who's been promised anything,” indicating people closer to retirement age.
As far as keeping it solvent for current and imminent retirees, the plan is: increasing the retirement age, limiting payouts for wealthy people, and using a different formula for cost-of-living increases.
Israel-Hamas War: Haley has rejected the idea of a ceasefire.
“I would tell Israel, whatever it is you need to not just get your country back, but to eliminate the terrorists, we should do," she said. "The last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do. The only thing we should be doing is supporting them."
Age and a new generation of leadership: One of her first arguments in launching her run for the White House was that it's time for a new generation of leaders.
Haley, who is 51, has called for mental competency tests for elected officials over the age of 75.
She says America’s enemies are watching how old our leaders are, and the country is "less safe" because of it.
ELECTABILITY
She is either in second place or tied for second in polls in several early GOP voting states. In her home state of South Carolina: As of now, Haley is in a solid second place, but trails Trump significantly.
A CNN poll from late October: 53% of likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina call Trump their first choice for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and 22% pick their former governor, Nikki Haley. 11% backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
General Election: (If she can make it past Trump). The latest polls show Haley outperforming other GOP candidates, including Trump, against Biden in head-to-head swing state match-ups in a general election.
A New York Times poll from earlier this month: Haley beats Biden in all six swing states, while Trump beats Biden in all but one state — Wisconsin. Haley also leads by a wider margin than Trump in four of the six.
🌎 WHERE ARE WOMEN IN CHARGE?
Only 59 nations have had a women head of government since 1960.
Women currently serve as the head of government in just 13 of the 193 member states of the United Nations. Roughly half of all current women leaders (7 of 13) are in Europe. The U.S., China, France Japan, Mexico, and Russia are among the other major developed economies that have not had a female head of government in modern times.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 5 U.S. service members killed in helicopter crash in Mediterranean Sea (NPR)
📌 House GOP pursuing two-step plan to avert government shutdown this week (CNN)
📌 Massive industrial fire shuts down LA freeway, Gov. Newsom declares state of emergency (AP)
📌 Suspect released in murder of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll (CBS NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Heavy fighting rages near Gaza hospital (AP)
📌 Russia ramps up attacks on key cities in eastern Ukraine (AP)
📌 A fragile global economy is at stake as US and China seek to cool tensions at APEC summit (ABC NEWS)
📌 Paris rally against antisemitism attracts over 100K people as anti-Jewish acts continue to rise (FOX NEWS)
📌 Iceland braces for volcanic eruption that could wipe out town (BLOOMBERG)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Experimental cholesterol-lowering drugs found safe and effective in studies (NBC NEWS)
📌 Boeing close to Emirates deal for more 777 jets, reports say (CNBC)
📌 Thousands of Greenland’s glaciers are rapidly shrinking. Before-and-after photos reveal decades of change (CNN)
📌 NASA tool bag dropped by astronauts from International Space Station (USA TODAY)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Texas A&M fires football coach Jimbo Fisher, triggering record $77 million buyout (USA TODAY)
📌 Taylor Swift changes lyrics to ‘Karma’ in nod to ‘guy on the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce (CNN)
📌 With new judge in place, Michigan's lawsuit challenging Jim Harbaugh moves forward (NBC SPORTS)
📌 Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard found guilty of 4 counts of sexual assault (CBC NEWS)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: NOVEMBER 13
1968: 'The Beatles: Yellow Submarine' opened in U.S. theaters
1978: Village People released ‘Y.M.C.A.’
1998: 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer' premiered in theaters
2001: On the heels of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan following 9/11, the army of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance captured the capital city of Kabul. The Taliban would recapture the city in 2021.
2015: ISIS terrorists staged coordinated attacks in Paris and its environs, the deadliest occurring at the Bataclan theatre and concert hall; in all, at least 130 people were killed and more than 350 were wounded.