Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley mocked a group of GOP politicians who are still considering a run for the presidency but have not yet announced they will run.
“Don’t wait for guys sitting on the sidelines who can’t make up their minds,” he told the conservative group Club for Growth at an exclusive donor retreat in Palm Beach, Florida. Host a donor retreat Along with several potential presidential candidates.
“Once I’ve decided I’m going to run, there’s no point in waiting. When it comes to saving America, decisive things,” he said at the start of his remarks.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke at the retreat on Thursday, and former Vice President Mike Pence addressed the crowd on Friday. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who Haley first appointed to the post in 2012, will also speak on Saturday.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramasamy also spoke at the retreat. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Virginia Gov. Glenn Young were both invited to the Club for Growth retreat, but were unable to attend, according to a source familiar with the planning.
But Haley’s focus on Republicans hasn’t stopped her potential primary opponents. Former Presidents Donald Trump and George W. Although he did not specifically name Bush, he also took issue with “the last two Republican presidents.”
“Many Republican politicians love spending and wasting taxpayer money just as much as Democrats. The last two Republican presidents added more than $10 trillion to the national debt. Think about that. A third of our debt happened under two Republicans,” he said. .
“If we nominate another big spender in 2024, we’re going to lose,” he added.
Former President Donald Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago home is a few miles from the Club for Growth retreat, did not receive an invitation to the meeting. Trump was the keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday and publicly clashed with the conservative economic group over the 2022 congressional primaries.
Ramaswamy has launched his presidential campaign — he’s long in the race by now, but DeSantis, Pence, Scott and Sununu have yet to announce they’re running. However, many of them are heading to early presidential primary states or plan to in the coming weeks.
In her remarks, Haley also suggested club donors look to support primary contenders against the 158 House Republicans who voted against the recent omnibus spending bill. He derided them as “soft Republicans” and criticized them and accused them of “getting the ball rolling” on “trillion dollar epidemics.”
“Don’t let the media tell you that Republicans and Democrats can’t work together. They always seem to do better when they spend your money,” he said.
Haley also said she is “not afraid” to talk about “saving” Social Security and Medicare. The question is whether to reform both schemes 2024 has exposed some divisions in the fieldHaley and Pence argue that changes are needed to keep the programs alive in the long term.
In his remarks Friday, Pence said the party “cannot abandon our commitment to fiscal responsibility, including common-sense reforms to Social Security and Medicare” in the donor retreat.
“I can’t walk away from the debt crisis our country is facing, and neither can you,” he said. This is First reported by Fox News.
Trump has used it since launching his third bid, saying he would not support cuts in programs A problem that plagues DeSantis.
Haley has repeatedly gone after “pro-union” politicians, took a dig at Democratic President Joe Biden, prides himself on his ties to unions, and said he brings a “union buster” reputation to the White House from his time as South Carolina governor. .
A day earlier, Haley addressed a CPAC gathering near Washington, DC, where she argued that she represents the generational shift the GOP needs. Trump and Ramasamy were the only notable presidential candidates to attend the meeting, with DeSantis and Pence declining their invitation.
Haley’s presence drew mixed reactions at the conference, a Trump-friendly gathering attended by several former members of his administration and allies. Trump supporters chanted “Trump! Trump! Trump!” As she leaves the conference.
In His comments at the retreat on Thursday, DeSantis fashioned himself as a new leader for the party who did not shy away from “culture war” issues such as the important racial theory taught in schools and sexuality.
“I’m going to take offense,” DeSantis said in the 40-minute speech, according to a source in the room. “Some of these Republicans sit like potted plants and let the media define the terms of the debate, let the left define the terms of the debate, and take everything that comes in because they’re not doing anything.”
According to a source familiar with his comments this evening, Scott will continue his rhetoric from his “Faith in America” tour, which recently stopped in Iowa.
During his tour, Scott said Biden and the Democrats had offered “a blueprint to destroy America” and portrayed himself as someone who could unify the party and the country.
“Will we be a nation that chooses scarcity or generosity?” He is expected to say in his remarks.
Finn Gomez contributed reporting.
