SEABROOK, NH — On Sunday Nikki Haley addressed a packed dining room at Brown’s Lobster Pound to vote for her on Tuesday, vowing to take the country in a different direction than presidential candidates President Biden and former president Trump.
“This boils down to, ‘What do you want?” Haley asked the crowd. “Do you want the same, or do you want something new? Do you want to go back to a country where they decide who’s a good person and who’s a bad person… or do you want to come together as Americans?”
Haley’s speech comes on the heels of Gov. Ron Desantis dropping out of the presidential election, which narrowed the Republican primary to a two-person race between Trump and Haley.
“It’s now one fella and one lady left,” Haley told a cheering crowd. She later added, “May the best woman win.”
In her stump speech, Haley mentioned the need to secure our border and “go back to the basics in education,” a reference to the conservative push to limit how much students should learn in schools about race, sexuality, and history. She also emphasized the need for national unity.
Haley’s message resonated with Brad Copithorne, a New Hampshire resident who came to see Haley.
“We’re at a point in time where we’re so divided,” Copithorne said. “We need to heal. I firmly believe that Haley is someone who can heal the country.”
Fellow New Hampshire resident Chris McClelland said she was impressed by Haley’s speech and appreciated that she didn’t downplay her gender.
“She’s got a lot of energy and she’s fantastic,” McClelland said.
When asked whether she would vote for Biden or Trump in a hypothetical rematch, McClelland said she is not interested in either candidate and is hoping Haley will be victorious in the primary election.
In an interview with CNN after the event, Haley declared that 70% of Americans do not want to see a Trump-Biden rematch. A NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released Monday found that 59% of registered voters are “not too enthusiastic” or “not at all enthusiastic” about a potential rematch, according to The Hill.
“I’m going to finish this so Joe Biden and Donald Trump are not an issue at all,” Haley told CNN’s Dana Bash. “That we actually put them in the past and we go forward. Because our country deserves it, and Americans want it. They’re tired.”
