South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Friday that President-elect Trump did not win the presidential election by celebrating GOP values, but running against both major political parties.
Haley told the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention that Trump’s victory presented an opportunity to accomplish key Republican goals, but that her party shared a significant portion of the blame for American’s animosity of the political class. While she said she’s never been Trump’s biggest cheerleader, “I did vote for him and was absolutely thrilled to see him win.”
“If we as Republicans are going to lead effectively and have staying power as a governing party, we must accept that Donald Trump’s election was not an affirmation of the way Republicans have conducted themselves,” Haley said.
“The president-elect deserves tremendous credit for the way he was able to connect with the electorate, but he did not do it by celebrating the Republican Party. And the American people did not vote for him because he had an ‘R’ next to his name.”
She continued, “[Voters] rejected the political class of all stripes, Republicans included, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. There have been broken promises at every level of government. We need to go back to the basics and remember that we are the party of limited government … the party of inclusivity. We’ve moved away from that over the last decade.”
Haley, who has been rumored as a potential secretary of state pick for the president-elect, used her speech to detail how Trump’s win may not spell good news for Republicans unless they capitalize on the opportunities ahead.
