HORSLEY: In the GOP response to the president’s speech, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley made the opposite case for putting a Republican in the Oval Office.
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She faced a backlash from some conservatives, who interpreted her remarks as a call for unlimited legal immigration into the country, something they reject.
Yet for a GOP establishment that has struggled with how to respond to Trump and Cruz, Haley and Ryan stand as a welcome rejoinder.
NIKKI HALEY: If we held the White House, taxes would be lower for working families, and we’d put the brakes on runaway spending and debt.
She acknowledged Wednesday that her comments were partly aimed at Trump.
Trump on Wednesday said Haley “is a very nice woman”, but panned her stance on immigration.
Haley has condemned Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country. Last weekend he helped convene an anti-poverty summit with some of the GOP presidential candidates – Trump was absent – where he pressed for “a safety net that is created to help get people out of poverty”.
“This is just something that we learned in SC that I’m passing along”, said Haley. “She liked me better when I was a giver of contributions than she does when I’m not”, Trump said, adding that he is leading in Haley’s state of SC. She said Americans must resist what she called “the siren call of the angriest voices”. Believe me because they don’t like what’s happening in our country.
Following her response, one of the top Mr Trump supporter had called for her deportation. We’ll pick somebody, but we’ll pick somebody who’s very good.
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“A very important thing for me is borders and security, and she’s not very strong on those subjects and that would bother me very much”.
