Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley participated in a CNN town hall in Iowa tonight, where she faced questions from host Jake Tapper and GOP caucus voters on foreign policy, the economy and domestic issues.
The former UN ambassador made a forceful case for the United States’ support for Ukraine, a stark contrast with the leaders of the GOP 2024 presidential field, including her former boss Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On abortion, the former South Carolina governor said she believes there is a “federal role” in restricting abortion rights and wouldn’t directly answer questions about at what point in pregnancies she would seek to outlaw abortion.
Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the town hall in the posts below.
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Fact-checking Nikki Haley's claims during CNN's town hall
From CNN staff
Nikki Haley gestures as she speaks during the town hall.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley addressed a broad range of issues Sunday night during a CNN town hall in Iowa.
Here’s a look at some of the claims that the GOP presidential candidate made:
Social Security: Haley said that political leaders need to start tackling Social Security reform before the entitlement program is not able to fully pay all the benefits owed in a decade or so. She gave a couple of options.
“Instead of cost-of-living increases, we do increases based on inflation,” Haley said.
The formula for determining annual adjustments is specified in the Social Security Act. The adjustments are based on increases in a certain inflation index, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, known as CPI-W.
The adjustment is equal to the percentage increase, if any, in the CPI-W for the average for the third quarter of the current year compared to the average for the third quarter of the last year in which an adjustment went into effect, according to the Social Security Administration.
From CNN’s Tami Luhby
Climate Change: Haley claimed that India and China “are the problem” when it comes to emissions and the environment.
“The United States is very good when it comes to emissions. If we want to really fix the environment, then let’s start having serious conversations with India and China. They are our polluters. They are the ones causing the problems,” Haley said.
“We need a fair playing field. We’re not the problem. The Chinese and the Indians are the problem,” she continued.
China is by far the world’s largest emitter of polluting greenhouse gases at nearly 30% of the world’s emissions, but the US is the number two at around 11%, according to 2019 data. India is hovering above 6%, right around the European Union.
While it is true that US emissions are creeping downward, the country has emitted more over the course of history than any other nation. Emissions in developing countries like India are going up as they rely on fossil fuels like coal to power their economy.
And if you look at emissions on a per capita basis, the US leads both China and India. The US emits around 17.6 tons of emissions per person, while China emits about 10.1 tons per person, according to a report from the nonpartisan energy think tank Rhodium Group. India is far lower, at around 2.8 tons per person, according to the World Data Lab.
From CNN’s Ella Nilsen
Read more fact checks from tonight’s town hall here.
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Here are some key moments from CNN's town hall with Nikki Haley in Iowa
From CNN staff
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley just wrapped up a CNN town hall in Iowa, where she faced tough questions from host Jake Tapper and GOP caucus voters.
The former UN ambassador said backing Ukraine is about protecting freedom and stopping tyranny worldwide, setting a stark contrast with her former boss Donald Trump.
Here are some of the key moments from tonight’s event:
Haley says she will hold Congress accountable on spending: Haley said that, if elected, she would veto any spending bill that doesn’t take the US back to pre-Covid levels. “When I was governor of South Carolina I had to balance a budget. You have to balance a budget. Why is Congress the only group that doesn’t have to balance a budget?” she said. Haley went on to criticize the bipartisan stimulus bills passed by lawmakers during the coronavirus pandemic, saying they spent excessively to expand welfare programs.
She says China is the US’ “number one national security threat”: Asked for her views on US-China relations, Haley said Beijing tops the country’s list of security concerns. “For too long, Republican and Democrat presidents thought if they were nice to China, China would want to be like us. That’s narcissistic. China does not want to be like us, but they want to be like communist China,” she said.
Haley strays from Republican front-runners on Ukraine: In striking contrast to former President Donald Trump and leading challenger Gov. Ron DeSantis, Haley was unequivocal in her support of Ukraine. “This is bigger than Ukraine. This is a war about freedom, and it’s one we have to win,” said Haley, who once served as UN ambassador to the US under Trump.
She criticized DeSantis over Disney: Haley hit out at DeSantis, saying he was wasting taxpayer money in his feud with Disney. She said his “vendetta” against the company is hypocritical, because he once had a cozy relationship with its leaders even as it took a “woke” tack during the Trump administration.
Haley slams Biden on Afghanistan: Haley’s sharpest words on foreign policy were directed at President Joe Biden, whom she blamed for setting the stage for Russian aggression by mishandling the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. “We’ve got chaos everywhere and none of that would’ve happened,” she said, if not for the clumsy – and deadly – departure from the country the US invaded in 2001.
Haley avoids direct answer on federal abortion ban: Haley said that despite the fact that she’s “unapologetically pro-life,” she believes abortion policy requires further consideration. She noted that in order to pass any policy you need a majority of the House, 60 Senate votes and a signature of a president. She called for Congress to find common ground, like banning late-term abortions and encouraging adoptions, but declined to draw a hard line around issues like a federal ban.
Pushing back on gun control: Haley said she would oppose “red flag” gun laws that allow courts to temporarily seize firearms from anyone believed to be a danger to themselves or others. “I don’t trust government to deal with red flag laws,” Haley said. She also said getting rid of AR-15s will not prevent mass shootings, instead emphasizing plans to address mental health issues — though she did say she supported law enforcement removing illegal guns.
Haley calls for tougher immigration approach: Haley said she would reinstate the provisions of Title 42 and defund sanctuary cities as part of her plan to fix the US immigration system. If elected, she also vowed to institute a national e-verify program for confirming workers’ immigration status, reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy for migrants awaiting immigration proceedings and cut off undocumented immigrants from entitlement programs.
CNN’s Gregory Krieg, Eric Bradner and Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.
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In pictures: CNN's town hall with Nikki Haley
From CNN's Will Lanzoni
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took the stage Sunday night for a CNN town hall in Des Moines, Iowa.
See photos from the evening at Grand View University:
Nikki Haley answers a question during the town hall, which was moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
GOP caucus voters applaud during the town hall.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Haley responds to a question.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Tapper and Haley are reflected in a glass railing at Grand View University.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Haley gives an answer.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Haley smiles at the audience during a commercial break.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Haley and Tapper participate in the town hall.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
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Analysis: Haley is effective at using personal stories to make some points — but also to dodge certain topics
Analysis by CNN's Audie Cornish / Written by CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley used personal anecdotes while discussing policy during Sunday’s town hall — a move that allowed her to appeal to voters, but also dodge more complicated issues, CNN’s Audie Cornish said.
Cornish explained that Haley is able to talk about her thinking process on why she is a candidate against abortion but then “what slides right under that is an attack against the Biden administration, unfairly claiming that their stance is abortion up until birth when we know that the president has said that they basically support the codification of Roe v. Wade — which does allow for abortion restrictions.”
“But you can’t attack someone on their personal biography, right?” she said.
Cornish also noted how Haley discussed her personal experiences with discrimination, but then actively says that racism is not systemic.
“It’s the same thing where she can talk extensively about the effects of racism in her life but always ends by essentially saying it’s not systemic,” Cornish said. “That this is just something I went through and everything is fine now because America is a great country.”
Cornish described Haley’s approach as a kind of “one-two punch,” where she attempts to use her biography to appeal to middle-of-the-road voters but then adds in hard-line policy.
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Nikki Haley says Trump and DeSantis are being dishonest with the American people on entitlement reform
From CNN's Kate Sullivan in Des Moines
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley argued that former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are “not being honest with the American people” — as both GOP 2024 candidates pledge to not cut Social Security or Medicare benefits for Americans.
It was a rare attack by name on the former president from Haley, who has largely avoided overtly criticizing Trump as she campaigns against her former boss for the GOP 2024 nomination.
Haley’s campaign has been more critical of DeSantis, including in recent weeks over his ongoing feud with Disney.
Haley said, “I think it’s important to be honest with the American people. We are in this situation. Don’t lie to them and say oh we don’t have to deal with entitlement reform. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. It’s the reality. I’m always going to tell the truth. Is it going to hurt? Yes. But for our kids, they know they’re not going to get it anyway.”
More background: Haley has called for changing the retirement age for Americans currently in their 20s and limiting Social Security and Medicare benefits for wealthier Americans.
Though Trump says he won’t cut Social Security and Medicare benefits, his administration’s budget proposals included cuts to such social programs. DeSantis also expressed support for privatizing Medicare and Social Security during his first campaign for Congress in 2012.
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Haley says "faith and a conscience" are core values that help guide her leadership
Nikki Haley speaks during a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Asked what core values serve as a foundation and underpinning for her political leadership, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said her parents taught her the importance of “faith and a conscience.”
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Haley on Trump and Jan. 6 Capitol riot: "He thinks it was a beautiful day. I think it was a terrible day"
From CNN's Gregory Krieg and Eric Bradner
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said former President Donald Trump is wrong to defend the events of January 6, 2021, when his supporters rioted at the US Capitol as Congress counted electoral college votes.
Haley did not repeat the wild conspiracy theories that Trump and his supporters have spread about the 2020 election, and she acknowledged that “President Biden is the president.”
She said, though, that while it wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the 2020 election, efforts to expand voting access during the pandemic in 2020 were problematic. And she endorsed “election integrity” laws such as voter identification requirements that many Republican-led states have enacted since then. Many critics have said those laws will make it more difficult for some people, especially marginalized groups, to cast ballots.
“I think it’s important that voters want to have election integrity. That’s the biggest thing,” Haley said. “There’s nothing worse than when a country and their citizens don’t trust the election system.”
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Haley says DeSantis is wasting taxpayer dollars over a personal feud with Disney
Nikki Haley answers a question during a CNN Republican Town Hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for what she characterized as wasting time and money on a personal “vendetta” against Disney.
Answering a question during Sunday’s town hall, Haley said DeSantis once had a cozy relationship with Disney, but “because they went and criticized him, now he’s going to spend taxpayer dollars on a lawsuit.”
“It’s just like, all this vendetta stuff, we’ve been down that road again. We can’t go down that,” Haley continued.
The former South Carolina governor said DeSantis was being hypocritical, only taking issue with the company now despite them being a “woke” company dating back to the Trump administration, and said he should not bring taxpayers into his personal issues.
“Pick up the phone, deal with it, settle it the way you should,” she said.
Some background: Disney filed a lawsuit earlier this year accusing DeSantis of weaponizing his political power to punish Disney for exercising its free speech rights when it objected to a state law restricting instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
DeSantis orchestrated a state takeover of a special taxing district in Central Florida that Disney had controlled for more than half a century as it built its theme park empire near Orlando. Some Republicans have bristled at DeSantis’ ongoing legal battle against Disney, with concerns about the Florida governor retaliating against a private business.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.
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Haley says ChatGPT was "pretty accurate" when used on her
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she had ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, used on her when discussing the growing age of artificial intelligence.
“Someone read an intro of me, and they had used ChatGPT to get it. And they asked me how accurate it was,” Haley told moderator Jake Tapper.
Haley said it was “pretty accurate.”
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Haley vows to defund sanctuary cities and reinstate "Remain in Mexico" immigration policy
Nikki Haley answers a question during a CNN Republican Town Hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she would reinstate the provisions of Title 42 and defund sanctuary cities as part of her plan to fix the US immigration system.
Jeff Ortiz, co-chair of the Story County, Iowa, GOP, asked Haley what her comprehensive plan is to fix the border, acknowledging it’s a “very complex issue.”
Haley referenced her recent visit to the border, saying: “I went to 400 miles of that border. You’re not ready for what I saw.”
Haley said the Biden administration is not letting US Border Patrol do its job, allowing too many people into the country, along with illegal drugs that lead to overdose.
Haley said, if elected, she would institute a national e-verify program for confirming workers’ immigration status, reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy for migrants awaiting immigration proceedings and cut off undocumented immigrants from entitlement programs. She also vowed to reintroduce the provisions of Title 42 and defund sanctuary cities.
“We have got to realize, we are losing Americans by the day and we’ve got to stop whether it’s the fentanyl coming across, whether it’s illegal immigrants coming across, we have got to close the border,” Haley said.
More on Title 42: Despite warnings of a potential crush of migrants that sent thousands of federal personnel to the southern border and US cities scrambling to prepare, the days after the expiration of Title 42 last month saw a much narrower influx of migrants than expected.
The Covid-related border restriction policy had allowed authorities to swiftly turn away migrants at the US-Mexico border.
In the days leading up to its expiration, long lines formed at checkpoints and makeshift encampments proliferated in border communities. But US authorities ultimately saw a 50% drop in the number of migrant encounters along the border over the previous two days compared to earlier in the week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN’s Dana Bash.
Officials warn, however, that it’s too early to say whether the surge in migrants at the border has peaked.
More on “Remain in Mexico”: The Trump-era border policy known as “Remain in Mexico” allowed officials to send non-Mexican migrants to Mexico to await their US immigration court hearings.
CNN’s Nouran Salahieh, Polo Sandoval, Rosa Flores, Andrea Cambron and Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post.
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Haley says she opposes "red flag" gun laws
From CNN's Kate Sullivan in Des Moines, Iowa
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Sunday she would oppose “red flag” gun laws that allow courts to temporarily seize firearms from anyone believed to be a danger to themselves or others.
Haley continued, “I don’t trust that they will, that they won’t take them away from people who rightfully deserve to have them. Because you’ve got someone else judging whether someone should have a gun or not. It is a constitutional right that people can protect and defend themselves.”
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Haley on potentially being the first woman elected president: "It would be nice to have that out of the way"
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Asked what it would mean to be the first woman elected president of the United States, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said, “For me, I don’t think about that as much as it would be nice to have that out of the way.”
She continued: “Because I think that we have — women are amazing at a lot of things. I’m a big fan of women. We balance. We prioritize. We know how to get things done. And honestly, we’ve let guys do it for a while. It might be time for a woman to get it done.”
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Haley says her husband's upcoming deployment to Africa will be a "year-long prayer" for her family
From CNN's Kate Sullivan in Des Moines, Iowa
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday spoke for the first time at length about her husband’s upcoming deployment to Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard and said it will be the beginning of a “year-long prayer” when he deploys in the coming weeks.
“We’re so proud. I mean, we love him so much. This is, it’s not our first rodeo. He did this when I was governor. He seems to find really interesting times, you know, but what you realize is deployments are never convenient, but they’re necessary,” Haley told Jake Tapper at a CNN town hall in Des Moines.
“Military families are incredibly resilient. They’re incredibly strong. I’m proud to stand with every military spouse. Because our job is to keep all well on the home front. We make sure that they don’t have to worry about anything back home because we’ve got it taken care of. And I’m blessed because I have always supported every way that he wants to serve his country and he has always supported every way I want to serve my country. So I’m a lucky girl and to every military spouse: We can do this, we can do this every day.”
Michael Haley is expected to deploy in the coming weeks to Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard and will likely remain deployed through the spring of 2024, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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Haley says getting rid of AR-15s will not prevent mass shootings — focus should be on mental health crisis
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said that getting rid of AR-15s will not prevent mass shootings, and she instead laid out a plan that includes addressing the mental health crisis in the country and removing illegal guns.
Jacob Underwood, a Republican from Iowa, asked Haley: “What meaningful steps would you take to prevent mass shootings in soft target areas such as schools, shopping malls and other areas where responsible citizens can’t really carry their firearm?”
Haley said that she would focus on getting illegal guns off the streets, beefing up security at schools including a point-of-entry officer, making sure there are mental health counselors for students and that the gun owners are appropriately vetted.
“We have to make mental health a number one priority because we are losing Americans every day to a lack of care. And that’s why we’re going to continue to see these. Everybody wants to say … let’s get rid of AR-15s. The reality is, if you did that, it might make you feel good today. There’s going to be another shooting next week,” Haley said.
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Haley says she'll seek consensus on abortion, but avoids firm stance on federal ban
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4. Will Lanzoni/CNN
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley attempted to toe the middle line when asked about abortion at tonight’s town hall, saying she is personally opposed to it but that there needs to be a national consensus on how to handle abortion from a policy perspective.
“I’m one of a huge contingent of pro-life voters in Iowa, and we just really want to know: What is your plan for effective protection for pre-born lives? Could you share your plan with us?” Rebekah Haynie, an Iowa mother of six and business owner who serves on her county Republican committee, asked Haley.
Haley said that despite the fact that she’s “unapologetically pro-life,” she believes there abortion policy requires further consideration.
Haley noted that in order to pass any policy you need a majority of the House, 60 Senate votes and a signature of a president. “We haven’t had 60 pro-life senators in over 100 years,” she said. “We might have 45.”
“So if you look at it from that standpoint, don’t let anybody in the media, don’t let any political party tell you that a Republican president can ban abortion laws in our country because they can’t any more than a Democrat president can ban our state laws. So, what can we do with consensus?”
Haley then laid out policies she believes can gain a majority of support.
Personally, she is unreservedly anti-abortion. But what that means in practice, and in a campaign where candidates are being pressed for specifics, has been harder to pin down. Recently, she endorsed a federal abortion ban – while, at the same time warning that conservatives need to be real and admit that they do not, and likely will not, have the votes in Washington to make that happen.
CNN’s Gregory Krieg contributed to this report.
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Haley promises a departure from divisive politics, saying Americans want government to "work for them again"
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
At tonight’s town hall, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Americans “want to see a government work for them again.”
Teri Kallem, a Republican work-from-home mother and entrepreneur, had asked Haley how she would better unite the country, saying she was tired of divisive politics.
Haley referenced her decision as governor to take down the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state Capitol after the 2015 mass shooting at a Charleston church as an example of her less-divisive leadership.
On the campaign trail, Haley has framed her decision to push for the flag’s removal as evidence of her ability to forge agreements from seemingly intractable debates.
CNN’s Gregory Krieg contributed reporting to this post.
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Nikki Haley: "This is bigger than Ukraine, this is a war about freedom"
From CNN's Shania Shelton and Gregory Krieg
Nikki Haley answers a question during a CNN Republican Town Hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
In striking contrast to former President Donald Trump, Republican candidate Nikki Haley made a clear case for continued American involvement in the war in Ukraine, arguing that victory for Russia would set off an even more deadly global crisis.
Haley’s comments represented a clear break from Trump, who appointed her ambassador to the United Nations, and has often touted his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin – a man she labeled a tyrant.
“This is about preventing war. And so the way you prevent war is not that we give cash to Ukraine and not that we put troops on the ground, but that we get with our allies and make sure that we give them the equipment and ammunition to win,” Haley said.
Moderator Jake Tapper pressed Haley on her differing view from her opponents. Tapper said Trump refused to say whether he believes Ukraine should win the war — or if Putin is a war criminal — at CNN’s town hall last month. And Tapper noted that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute.”
“I think that that is a mistake that too many have made,” Haley responded. “That’s what got Europeans in this position with Russia in the first place is that they are too trustful. You can’t be trustful of a regime that goes in and tries to take away peoples’ freedoms. What we need to understand is Ukraine has the ability to win but we have to think bigger than that.”
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"I don't think we should congratulate dictators," Haley says when asked about Trump's treatment of Kim Jong Un
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley if she was uncomfortable with how former President Donald Trump dealt with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. She responded by calling North Korea’s leader a “thug.”
“There’s nothing good or decent about Kim Jong Un,” the former UN ambassador under the Trump administration said.
Asked what her views are on US-China relations and their impact on farmers, Haley called China the United States’ “number one national security threat.”
She continued: “Let’s go back in history. For too long Republican and Democrat presidents thought if they were nice to China, China would want to be like us. That’s narcissistic. China does not want to be like us, but they want to be like communist China. We have to change the way we treat them.”
Haley went on to accuse China of stealing US information to build up their military.
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Haley says she will hold Congress accountable on spending to help the economy
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said that, if elected, she would hold Congress accountable for balancing the budget and veto any spending bill that doesn’t take the US back to pre-Covid levels.
“Small business owners have seen skyrocketing costs over the last couple of years — what policies or incentives would you put in place to help curb these rising costs?” Steve Casteel, an Iowa small business owner and Republican, asked during tonight’s town hall.
Haley placed the blame on excessive spending by Congress and said both parties were responsible.
Haley criticized the bipartisan stimulus bills passed by lawmakers during the coronavirus pandemic, saying that they spent excessively to expand welfare programs.
Haley went on to say that if she is elected president, she would firmly stop spending and borrowing and hold Congress in line.
“When I was governor of South Carolina I had to balance a budget. You have to balance a budget. Why is Congress the only group that doesn’t have to balance a budget? When I am president we will stop the spending, we will stop the borrowing, we will stop the earmarks and I will veto any spending bill that doesn’t take us back to pre-Covid levels. That’s how we will take care of things,” she said.
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Nikki Haley says she's running because "we have a country to save"
Nikki Haley participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she got into the race because “we have a country to save and that’s all I was thinking about.”
Haley touted her past political experience, saying she’s a two-term governor of South Carolina who turned the state into an “economic powerhouse” and a former UN ambassador who “took the ‘kick me’ sign off of our backs.”
“It is time for a new generational leader. It is time for us to leave the baggage of the past, the negativity to the past, and start thinking of our families and the families across America,” Haley said in CNN’s town hall.
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NOW: CNN's town hall with Nikki Haley has begun
From CNN staff
CNN’s town hall with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has begun in Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.
CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper is moderating the event, and the former South Carolina governor will soon take questions from Tapper and a live audience comprised of Iowa Republicans and voters who say they will preregister to participate in the GOP caucuses by the deadline set by the Iowa GOP and pledge to appear in person at the caucuses.
The first woman elected governor of South Carolina, Haley has struggled to break through in GOP primary polling this year with Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drawing the lion’s share of support among Republican voters.
Where you can watch: The town hall is streaming live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com. You can also watch on CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels,” or via CNNgo where available. The town hall is also available on demand to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
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How the Iowa caucuses work — and why the state is key in determining the party's nominee
From CNN's Eric Bradner
CNN will soon host a town hall with GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley in the key state of Iowa. The state will kick off the 2024 Republican presidential nominating process early next year with its caucuses.
It’s a tradition that has turned the Hawkeye State into the focal point of many GOP campaigns and positioned its voters to have a crucial role in determining the party’s nominee.
Iowa’s role as the first state in the presidential nominating process dates to the 1970s. In 1972, it was the first state to hold its Democratic caucus — and it moved to the front of the Republican line four years later in 1976.
The lead-up to the Iowa caucuses has historically been seen as a test of campaigns’ organizational strength. And its winner typically leaves Iowa with a jolt of momentum in the national polls as the race then shifts to New Hampshire for the Granite State’s primary.
Iowa is one of the few remaining states to eschew primaries in favor of choosing parties’ nominees in caucuses — election-night gatherings at which voters discuss the candidates and cast their ballots in person.
Caucuses, unlike primaries, are run by political parties, and are held in venues such as fire stations, churches and schools.
In Democratic caucuses in Iowa, caucus-goers separate into groups to indicate their candidate preferences and the support of at least 15% of attendees is necessary for the candidate to be considered viable and be awarded delegates. However, in Republican caucuses, attendees cast paper ballots, which are then counted in person. Delegates are awarded based on the results.
As far as the national momentum-building role of the Iowa caucuses, those election-night results are conclusive. But the official process continues: delegates selected on election night in the months ahead attend county, district and state conventions, where they are narrowed and delegates for the national convention are chosen.
The Iowa caucuses are important, but not necessarily decisive. In 2016, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished first, narrowly ahead of then-businessman Donald Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Trump would seize the GOP’s nomination in the weeks and months that followed.
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Here's what to watch for in tonight’s town hall with Nikki Haley
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on March 3.
Sarah Silbiger/Reuters/File
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley entered the Republican primary in February with a call for “generational change.” But her message has largely been drowned out by former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Haley’s early poll numbers among Republicans have been meek. Like so many others now flooding the race, she tends to slot in with single-digit support, laps behind Trump and DeSantis.
A moderate, at least in the context of the current Republican Party, Haley is trying to form a coalition of the GOP’s anti-Trump and Trump-fatigued voters, along with a chunk of the former president’s conservative base.
At a live CNN town hall in Iowa tonight, Haley will have her clearest opportunity yet to make that pitch. Here are four things to watch for:
What kind of abortion law does she want? When asked about the most divisive topic in contemporary politics, Haley has repeatedly said her main goal is to find consensus on abortion. While she is unreservedly opposed on a person level, it’s not clear where she lands on federal policy. Will she make that more clear tonight?
What tone will she take on the front-runner? Haley has so far sought to avoid any direct conflict with Trump, instead training her ire more directly on DeSantis and only criticizing the former president in vague terms. Will that change this evening?
Will the culture wars take center stage? Haley has framed her successful push to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state Capitol as evidence she can forge agreements from seemingly intractable debates. But on the campaign trail, she has repeatedly tapped into Republican backlash to transgender rights and other social divides. How hard will she lean into the role of culture warrior?
The future of Social Security and Medicare: The rise of populist politics within the GOP has complicated establishment talk of “entitlement reform” – or long-term plans to cut public funding for popular programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Haley has generally suggested changing the retirement age for Americans currently in their 20s, and some limits to benefits for wealthier people. Will she get more specific when pressed on the proposals?
The answer, though, is former Vice President Mike Pence and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, both tied at just 4%.
More worrisome for Haley, who is taking part in a CNN town hall Sunday evening, and other candidates polling outside the top two is the seeming nationalization of the GOP primary process this year. We’re seeing that reflected in state polling, including in the early voting and declared candidates’ home states: All largely show a significant advantage for Trump.
Presidential primaries, unlike general elections, don’t occur on the same day. They’re sequential, with outsize importance given to the states that vote first. This is why you see Republican candidates flocking to Iowa (for its caucuses) and New Hampshire (for the first-in-the-nation primary).
In recent years, national polling leaders at this point in the primary season who would go on to lose their party nominations did so in part because they lost the Iowa caucuses. That happened to the two candidates with the largest national leads: Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Hillary Clinton, each in 2008.
Both were clearly in trouble in Iowa at this point in the cycle. In fact, neither led their side’s contests in Des Moines Register polling from May 2007.
2024 race goes national: This year, we’re not seeing such a disconnect between national and early-state polling – at least not yet. The top two candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire surveys released to the public have been Trump and DeSantis. A University of New Hampshire poll taken in mid-April, for example, had Trump at 42% and DeSantis at 22%. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who is expected to announce his 2024 plans this week, was in third place at 12%.
Let’s focus closer on that Sununu datapoint. A few years ago, I noted that one of the better ways to predict whether a candidate trailing in national and early-state polls could surprise people is by examining how they were doing in their home states.
Haley was among the GOP hopefuls who descended on Iowa Saturday for Ernst’s "Roast and Ride" gathering
From CNN's Eric Bradner and Kate Sullivan
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks to guests during the Joni Ernst's Roast and Ride event on June 3 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
The entire field of 2024 Republican candidates and likely contenders – minus the front-runner – descended on Iowa on Saturday for a fundraiser for veterans that featured a motorcycle ride and a barbecue as they mingled with politically plugged-in voters in the first state on the GOP nominating calendar.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, in a leather vest, rode on a motorcycle as he and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, the host of the annual “Roast and Ride” gathering, led hundreds of riders to the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.
Retail politicking was in full swing at the fairgrounds. Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, the wife of newly declared 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis, climbed up on a tractor with two of their children after signing hats and taking photos with voters.
Former President Donald Trump was notably absent from the event, which came two days after he held several campaign events in the state and participated in a Fox News town hall with Iowa voters. But all other leading candidates – including DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson – made public appeals for support.
Haley’s husband, Michael Haley, was at the Roast and Ride event ahead of his scheduled deployment to Africa in the coming weeks with the South Carolina Army National Guard.
The presence of nearly all of the 2024 GOP contenders at Ernst’s eighth annual Roast and Ride event is a demonstration of her influence within the party – both in Washington, where she is Republicans’ fourth-highest-ranking senator, and in Iowa, where a strong performance in the caucuses is a crucial momentum-builder for presidential hopefuls.
Haley will soon face questions from voters in the key state of Iowa. Here's what to know about the town hall
From CNN staff
Nikki Haley will participate in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, June 4.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper will moderate a CNN town hall tonight with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley as the field of hopefuls vying for the party’s 2024 nomination continues to grow.
The event will begin at 8 p.m. ET and take place at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.
The former South Carolina governor, who also served as the US ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump, is expected to take questions from Tapper and a live audience comprised of Iowa Republicans and voters who say they will preregister to participate in the Republican caucuses by the deadline set by the Iowa GOP and pledge to appear in person at the caucuses.
The town hall will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com. You can also watch on CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels,” or via CNNgo where available. The town hall will also be available on demand to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
Haley entered the GOP nominating contest in February and has had to navigate running against her former boss, who is seen as the current Republican front-runner. The first woman elected governor of South Carolina, Haley has struggled to break through in GOP primary polling this year with Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drawing the lion’s share of support among Republican voters.
The event will be the second in CNN’s series of Republican presidential town halls for the 2024 cycle. The first, moderated by Kaitlan Collins, featured former President Donald Trump in New Hampshire.
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First Republican presidential primary debate set to take place August 23
From CNN's David Wright
The first presidential primary debate will take place on August 23 in Milwaukee, the Republican National Committee announced Friday. The party also laid out the polling and donor thresholds candidates must meet to make the stage.
For the polling requirement, candidates will need to register at least 1% in three national polls, or a combination of national polls and a poll from the early-voting states recognized by the RNC.
Qualifying candidates will also need “a minimum of 40,000 unique donors to candidate’s principal presidential campaign committee (or exploratory committee), with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20+ states and/or territories,” the RNC said in a statement.
The candidates must also sign a pledge “agreeing to support the eventual party nominee,” the committee said.
Candidates must present these qualifications to the RNC 48 hours before the first debate. The committee also said that “should enough candidates qualify to make it necessary,” a second debate will be held on August 24.
The rules are more stringent than what Democrats required during the 2020 cycle to qualify for their first presidential debate, when candidates had to either register at least 1% in support in three polls from an approved list of pollsters or receive campaign contributions from 65,000 unique donors, including 200 donors each from 20 different states.
The Republican requirement for 2024 candidates to meet both the polling and donor threshold could make qualifying difficult for some hopefuls who are struggling to garner 1% in polls or in fundraising.
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Analysis: Your guide to the Republicans running for president so far
Analysis from CNN's Zachary B. Wolf
The first Republican primary debate won’t occur until August — and the first primaries and caucuses won’t happen until early next year — but the 2024 presidential primary campaign is already well underway.
The divisive former president is the prohibitive Republican front-runner despite his efforts to overturn the 2020 election he lost. Trump has worked hard to kneecap his top current rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. A major complication for Trump is his legal uncertainty. His criminal trial in New York for alleged involvement in a hush-money paymentscheme before the 2016 election will get underway in tandem with voting in the 2024 primary. He could face additional charges, both at the federal level and in Fulton County, Georgia. But those investigations have been ongoing for years now, and it’s not clear any allegations will hurt his strength among many Republican voters.
While Trump and his supporters got to work hammering DeSantis with TV ads, the Florida governor was at work building an argument inhis home state. Riding high from an overwhelming reelection victory in 2022, DeSantis used a GOP majority in the Florida legislature to enact measures related tocurbing access to abortion, ending educational diversity initiatives, curbing LGBTQrights and more. While he lacks Trump’s baggage on the legal front, DeSantis also lacks Trump’s personality. Plus, his standoff with Disney over a bill to limit when sexual orientation and gender identitycan be discussed in schools has not gone as DeSantis might have planned.
Haley has a stellar resume. Elected governor of a Southern state and selected as Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations, she would be the first woman and first non-White Republican nomineeif she can emerge with the nomination. Much younger than Trump or President Joe Biden, Haley has made age a centerpiece of her campaign and argued for some kind of age-based competency test – an interesting idea in terms of scoring points against older candidates, but also a potential turnoff for primary voters in a party that skews older.
The South Carolina senator is the only Black Republican in the US Senate. He has built the rarity of his biography to argue he disrupts the narrative of American politics. Although appealing to conservatives, Scott has a record of actually working across party lines on police reform and more.
A biotech and health care entrepreneur who also writes books opposing corporate “wokeism” and identity politics, Ramaswamy is a long-shot candidate unknown by most Americans.
The conservative talkradio host has never held elective office, but he was the top Republican vote-getter in the unsuccessful 2021 effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
More to come: There are other Republicans considering campaigns. Former VicePresident Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgumalso register in the single digits in CNN’s most recent poll.
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Key things to know about Nikki Haley's career in politics
From CNN's Kate Sullivan, Terence Burlij and Kaitlan Collins
Nikki Haley and her family walk back into the South Carolina State House after her inauguration in 2011.
Tim Dominick/The State/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
A former president of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004.
Six years later, she became the first woman elected as governor of the state in 2010 and was the youngest governor in the nation when she took office in 2011.
She resigned in the middle of her second term to become former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations – a role she served in until the end of 2018.
Haley has often attempted to walk a fine line between allying with Trump and distancing herself enough to appeal to his more moderate critics.
She left the Trump administration in 2018 on good terms with the then-president – a marked contrast from other former Trump officials who have publicly fallen out with their onetime boss.
Nikki Haley makes a speech during a United Nations Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York in 2018.
Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
During her video campaign announcement in February, Haley touted her record as a twice-elected governor of South Carolina and her leadership in the state after nine people were fatally shot at a historically Black church in Charleston in 2015. After the shooting, Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the Statehouse.
She also leaned into her foreign policy experience in her announcement and referenced her time as UN ambassador.
“Some people look at America and see vulnerability,” Haley said. “The socialist left sees an opportunity to rewrite history. China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied, kicked around. You should know this about me: I don’t put up with bullies, and when you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels.”
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Here's what Nikki Haley said when she launched her 2024 campaign earlier this year
From CNN's Kate Sullivan, Terence Burlij and Kaitlan Collins
Former South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley waves during a campaign event at the Charleston Visitor Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 15.
Logan Cyrus/AFP/Getty Images
Former South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley announced in a video in February that she was running for president in 2024, becoming at that moment the first major rival to challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.
Haley served as US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump. The former president, who announced his bid last year, appeared to bless her entrance into the race, telling reporters that she had called to tell him she was considering a campaign launch and that he had said, “You should do it.”
Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, opened the video talking about how she felt “different” growing up in Bamberg, South Carolina.
“The railroad tracks divided the town by race. I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not Black, not White. I was different. But my mom would always say your job is not to focus on the differences but the similarities. And my parents reminded me and my siblings every day how blessed we were to live in America,” Haley said.
If successful in the primary, Haley would be the first woman and the first Asian American nominated by the Republican Party for president.
During her video announcement, Haley discussed her work as the twice-elected governor of South Carolina and leaned into her foreign policy experience, referencing her time as UN ambassador, saying she has “seen evil.”
