Kentucky Senator Rand Paul teased yesterday that, while he had not weighed in on the 2024 Republican Primary as of yet, and while he hasn’t yet endorsed anyone to lead the Republican charge into the White House, one thing he has made very clear is that he doesn’t want it to be Nikki Haley.
Paul is so adamant about this that he launched a campaign called #NeverNikki to ensure she doesn’t even get close.
Posting to X, Paul released a video that touched on his anti-Haley stance, including a tweet storm explaining his positions. These include:
-Her thirst for war is so strong she actually said: “I’m sick of talking about a Department of Defense. I want a Department of Offense.”
-She even personally received millions of dollars from the arms merchants who benefit from the war, a conflict of interest that undergirds her eagerness for foreign military intervention.
-Nikki Haley believes in nearly unlimited foreign aid — we have sent over $100 BILLION we don’t have to Ukraine already and she wants more. But this also isn’t new.
-In her book With All Due Respect, she wrote “Humanitarian Assistance will always be a priority for the United States, we will always be generous.”
-Nikki Haley believes that all internet posters should be registered and verified. This flies in the face of a free American Republic whose founders wrote anonymously the Federalist Papers and routinely posted newspaper articles and pamphlets under Pseudonyms.
-Nikki Haley routinely praised the mission of the United Nations, the results they achieved, and the people who ran it.
-First up, her quote “I believe the U.N. does valuable work.” By that she means your tax dollars since the US is the primary funder of UN.
I’m interested in the ideas of some independents too, such as @RobertKennedyJr.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 12, 2024
Paul also created a website at nevernikki.net with the ability to sign up for a mailing list. Clicking on the reasons as to why Rand stands against Haley, he gives you a long list, many of which are posted in his tweet storm on the matter.
Paul’s position shouldn’t surprise anyone. Like his father Ron Paul, Senator Paul has a very libertarian bent and has consistently demonstrated his intense dislike of anything like overt statism, and Haley has expressed a strong desire for more authoritarian solutions to domestic issues and global interference, including a penchant for war.
Paul isn’t the only Republican going after Haley. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has also targeted Haley, and while that’s natural for a Republican opponent of Haley’s to do so, DeSantis focused on some of the things Paul did, including Haley’s love of the UN and her desire to verify anyone who uses social media. He also highlighted Haley’s sympathizing with the Black Lives Matter rioters, as well as her desire to invite Chinese businesses to open factories in the U.S.
While Haley seems to be unpopular with a good deal of conservatives and libertarians, there are some Republicans who do seem to prefer Haley’s brand of statism. According to RCP polling averages, Haley leads DeSantis in Iowa 22 to 13 respectively, while in New Hampshire Haley sits at 31 points to DeSantis’s 6 points.
She still trails Donald Trump by a large margin in both polls.
Paul’s campaign looks to correct any confusion Republicans may have about who Haley is and what she stands for.
