Hundreds of Nikki Haley supporters filed into Union Station in downtown Raleigh on Saturday afternoon to see the Republican presidential candidate give one of her final stump speeches before Super Tuesday.
With just days left until North Carolina’s primary, Haley urged her ‘sister state’ supporters to head to the polls in the final hours of early voting on Saturday or next Tuesday, Election Day, to vote for her. Haley has vowed not to drop out of the Republican primary despite losing significantly to former President Donald Trump in all previous state primaries.
Haley’s campaign has become a fallback for voters adamantly opposed to Trump. As such, the rally consistently keyed on Trump’s behavior and what she described as his efforts to ‘redefine the Republican Party’ with self-centered rhetoric.
She called for fiscal responsibility in the federal government and noted the rising consumer costs across the spectrum, from utility bills to grocery bills. While Biden’s White House can be blamed for some economic problems, Haley also placed blame on Republicans in power.
“I would love to tell you that Joe Biden did that…. But I have always spoken in hard truths, and I’m gonna do that with you today. Donald Trump and our Republicans did that down too,” Haley asserted, pointing to the $2.2 trillion COVID stimulus bill that had “no accountability.”
Haley has become the preferred candidate among Republicans who have no intention of voting for Trump in the general election. One of those supporters is 89-year-old Josephine Jackson, a North Carolina native who attended the Saturday rally with her son. Jackson said that if it came down to Trump vs. Biden in the general election, she would not vote for either, a common sentiment amongst Haley supporters.
“She’s God-inspired. We need someone with dignity and that our children can look up to. We don’t need the older people,” Jackson told the Carolina Journal. “This is for my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren. I have five children, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, and this is for them. I’m 89, this is for the young people. God will not let Trump get in there again…he has low morals and no dignity; we need dignity,” said Jackson.
Haley also stopped in Charlotte on Friday night to kick off the weekend approaching the primary election. South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman described her as courageous and determined when introducing her on Friday, reported the Carolina Journal. As Haley spoke to supporters in Raleigh on Saturday, Trump held rally in Greensboro, less than two hours away.
“It’s been over a year since I announced I was running for president,” said Haley. “We had 14 people in the race. We defeated a dozen of the fellas. I just have one more I have to catch up to,” she told the audience.
Primary locations for the March 5 primary are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.