Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was in South Burlington, Vermont Sunday for a brief campaign rally in the Green Mountain State in advance of its Super Tuesday primary.
More than 300 Republicans, Independents and a few Democrats crowded into the ballroom and adjacent overflow hallway at the DoubleTree Inn to hear from the remaining primary opponent to frontrunner Donald Trump as the former president nears the nomination.
Haley made her pitch to Vermonters, telling them that Trump talks about himself, not the American people, and cannot win the general election.
“Something has to give. We can’t keep living in this chaos,” Haley said. “We can’t be a country in disarray in a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won’t survive it. And look at the general election polls. In every one of those polls, it’s going to be a nail-biter between Donald Trump and Joe Biden again. I’m in every one of those polls and I defeat Joe Biden by 18 points! That’s a mandate to stop the wasteful spending and get our economy back on track. That’s a mandate to get our kids reading again and go back to the basics in education. That’s a mandate to secure our borders with no more excuses. That’s a mandate to bring law and order back to our cities. And that’s a mandate for a strong America that prevents wars that we can all be proud of. Don’t you want that?”
Brandon resident Wyatt Waterman says he is a Democrat who votes independently.
“When I cast my ballots I’m going to pick a Republican ticket and vote for Haley because, as she has stated herself, what we are having here is a Soviet-style candidacy and so she is standing up to that.”
Former Vermont Governor Jim Douglas arrived early and mingled with the crowd as they awaited entry into the venue. He says Haley, a former South Carolina governor, has the needed qualifications to lead the country.
“I also think it’s time to pass the torch,” Douglas said. “It seems to me with a couple of octogenarian candidates likely to be on the ballot that it’s time for some new youthful energy and Governor Haley obviously offers that. Further she has international experience as our ambassador at the United Nations and I think that will be important to the next Commander-in- Chief. And finally I think about Vermont. And to be honest President Trump if he were the nominee is probably going to get the 30 percent that he has the last couple of times. So I think Nikki Haley at the top of the ticket will be stronger and we’ll have a better chance at electing more Republicans in the Green Mountain State.”
Current Republican Governor Phil Scott endorsed Haley in January and introduced her, saying the U.S. needs a leader who can inspire people.
“Governor Haley has a proven track record of strong fiscal discipline,” Said Scott. “She also believes we need to continue to hold the mantle as the leader of the free world. You’ll notice I’ve been saying Governor Haley rather than Ambassador Haley. And this is why: I’ve always believed the job of governor best prepares someone to become president and governors know how to get things done. So with that, it’s my pleasure to introduce Governor Nikki Haley.”
Haley’s speech was interrupted several times by Free Palestine protesters who were escorted out of the room as the crowd chanted or booed over them.
“We need to open up the middle class,” Haley told the crowd. “We’re watching the rich get richer....”
“Blood is on your hands,” interrupts a protester.
A member of the crowd shouts to the demonstrator: “You’ve got to get out of here.”
Governor Haley interjects, “Don’t get upset at people like that because my husband...” but is interrupted by another protester.
“Okay, anybody else?” asks Haley. “But what I will tell you, what I was trying to say is, don’t get upset at protesters when they do that because my husband and his military brothers and sisters sacrifice every day for their right to be able to do that.”
Haley also told Vermonters why she has stayed in the race.
“The media’s been like all over themselves trying to figure out why I’m not getting out of this race,” quipped Haley. “Well first of all when 70 percent of Americans say they don’t want Donald Trump or Joe Biden, yes I’m going to keep on fighting. The reason I’m doing this is for my kids and your kids and grandkids. Look at what they’ve been through. They went through COVID. They don’t know how they’re going to get a job. They don’t know how they’re going to make ends meet. They don’t think they’ll ever own a home and then they’re worried about the wars around the world. And all of that is happening under an umbrella of anger and division. Our kids deserve to know what normal feels like.”
Vermont’s presidential primary is on Town Meeting Day Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m.
