Nikki Haley Rally Draws Small Crowd In South Carolina

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley recently held a rally in Conway, South Carolina, as part of her push to accomplish a first win in her attempt to defeat former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary.

Haley spoke to a crowd that filled approximately 30% of the room in the Williams Brice Building at Coastal Carolina University. Chairs were pushed close together, with the seated crowd reaching about eight rows back from the stage.

The speech — made to a mix of supporters, curious voters and hecklers — covered her recent primary losses, the economy and foreign policy, and was given against the backdrop of a large American flag.

Haley began her speech by praising her campaign’s recent losses, citing her jump from 2% in the polls to a 20% finish in Iowa and a 43% result in New Hampshire’s open primary, where 70% of Haley’s votes came from voters not registered as Republicans.

At one point during her speech, a man who had secured seats close to the stage stood up and addressed Haley, saying, “No new wars!”

Haley replied directly to the man, claiming, “None of us want new wars.” At this point, a man from the back joined the conversation, yelling, “You want new wars, Nikki!”

The man in the front continued: “Where’s the money coming from? Reid Hoffman with LinkedIn. We know where your money’s coming from, Nikki,” adding, “We’re sick of the wars; we want America first.”

The man then ripped a Nikki Haley yard sign in half before leaving the building.

While the size of the crowd was modest, the audience was enthusiastic in their cheers for the former South Carolina governor as she attacked Donald Trump’s record, spoke about her plans for fiscal restraint and highlighted the need to spend more American dollars on the defense of foreign allies’ borders.

Haley ended her speech encouraging her enthusiastic supporters to “pick up a yard sign” on their way out and to “tell 10 people” about the importance of voting in the February 24 South Carolina primary.

As of January 28, FiveThirtyEight polling of South Carolina shows Donald Trump expected to win the primary with 62.5% of the vote, with Nikki Haley projected to receive 29.2% of support in her native state. But, as South Carolina is an open primary and President Joe Biden is not being seriously challenged for the Democratic nomination, additional support for Haley has been predicted from Democrats and other anti-Trump voters who have no intention of voting for her in the general election.

As conservatives have learned, the election isn’t over until the votes are counted. And polls can indeed be wrong. This being the case, turnout and supporters’ enthusiasm will be paramount factors in winning South Carolina.