2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Campaigns in Town of Exeter

By SAM ATLMAN, LAUREN LEE, and CHLOÉ LIND

Recently, as political tension in the United States has increased leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election, all focus has been on New Hampshire, the first state to vote in the primaries. Nikki Haley, one of the few Republican candidates left after the brutal Iowa Caucus and party debates, campaigned all over New Hampshire in a bid to edge out Donald Trump’s support in one of the few places she had the chance to do so. On Jan. 21, 2024, she visited Exeter High School (EHS) for a rally open to the public. Several Exonians attended and returned with much to say about the event and its role in the Republican Presidential Primaries.

In general, attendees felt that Haley’s speech was fairly well received, with her beliefs on China resonating with the crowd the most. “The atmosphere of the event was quite strongly in favor of Haley’s political ideas,” lower Alex Ma said. 

Similarly, upper Margarita Jones recalled the glamor of the event, saying, “It felt like I was at a hockey game or some football game, because they were playing all of this hyped-up music before she came on as if it were the Super Bowl or something. People were even chanting for her.”

Despite the common positive sentiment amongst attendees, many expressed disappointment with the delays in the speech: though the event was scheduled to begin at 8 o’clock, Haley came out onto the stage much later. “That was disappointing,” upper Jacques Leleux noted. “I feel like she could’ve been more punctual and that would’ve made us have a little more confidence in her candidacy.”

Haley’s speech touched on a myriad of issues facing Americans, highlighting her border control policy in particular. “The main thing she was talking about was immigration,” said lower Olivia Braham. “That was very smart on her part, especially because I think there was a recent poll that said that New Hampshire voters rank immigration as the same importance as the economy in terms of  how they vote.”

In addition, Haley spoke about her stance on fossil fuel pipelines and energy production. “One especially memorable piece of content from her speech was her strong support for fossil fuel pipelines and energy production. She remained adamant about the need for the keystone pipeline and other sources to boost overall energy production in the US,” said Ma.

“There was an exciting point where some sort of oil protester stood up,” recalled Leleux. “They had this banner that said something to the effect of ‘silencing anti-oil,’ and then the police came and took them away.” 

Haley’s response to this protester left a lasting impression. “Nikki Haley said, ‘Every time I see a protester, I smile because it makes me recognize that the sacrifices that my husband made in Afghanistan…and [of] all our soldiers serving overseas, are for these people’s right to protest,’” Leleux recalled. “I think she handled it with grace.”

Leleux commented on why the rally was important to him: “When Mr. Chisholm wrote to us about this event, he started with, ‘Hello Political Optimists,’ and that’s what we were, we were optimists, going to see her. We thought maybe we wouldn’t have to repeat 2020, that maybe we wouldn’t have to choose between a senile old man and a criminal.”

Upper Paco Sze remarked on Haley’s political strategy, saying, “She admitted that she agreed with a lot of Trump’s policies, but she was banking on the fact that everywhere Trump goes he causes chaos, good or bad, to follow him. That was essentially her stance on Trump. That was her way of separating herself.”

On the other hand, Ma believed that Haley’s speech was not enough to distinguish herself from former President Donald J. Trump, the other candidate vying for the Republican nomination. “Haley did not touch on some of her more sensitive stances, such as the states’ rights to secede or her support for abortion rights. With DeSantis gone, I believe that exploring these ideas may have been an opportunity to further distinguish herself as a candidate and sway independent voters. Unfortunately, most of her speech revolved around cookie-cutter ideas,” said Ma. 

Leleux added, “I actually have to vote in this election, so this is something that matters to me much more than it did in 2020. I think that it was a moment of great optimism and great hope for our fellow Americans. To see those hopes dashed is honestly a little disappointing. I’m not saying that’s not what we thought going in because I don’t think anyone was seriously thinking Haley was going to beat Trump, he just has so much support. The Republican party, as we saw in Iowa, is his party right now. So, in a sense, it was a fool’s errand, which is unfortunate.”

Reflecting on Nikki Haley’s speech amidst the backdrop of the 2024 Republican Presidential Primaries, it becomes a microcosm of the political landscape’s intricacies. The enthusiastic reception of Haley’s political beliefs, hoping for a change to the status quo in the next four years, provides a glimpse into the political future of New Hampshire, and is fairly representative of the results of the New Hampshire primary elections in which Haley gained nine delegates. Haley’s event at EHS serves as an example of public sentiment, political strategy, and persuasive devices in the anticipation of the presidential election and the race for national republican nomination.