By Delayna Earley and Amber Hewitt
The Island News
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley made a quick stop on Hilton Head Island on Thursday, Feb. 1, at Forrest Fire BBQ Restaurant to hold a meet and greet with her supporters.
Haley, who is currently trailing former President Donald Trump in the polls, has been traveling the state in hopes of amassing enough votes to beat Trump in the S.C. Republican Primary on Feb. 24, 2024.
A few hundred people showed up to the event and while a few Trump supporters came to protest, most came to listen to Haley speak about education, unemployment and her record as governor.
Robert and Gail Otoole, of Hilton Head Island, support Haley because “she is eloquent, smart, strong, quick witted, and definitely fresh,” adding “she will stand her ground and will bring everyone together without drama. She brings good old hard work and steadiness. She will not be only the best first female president – but the best president.”
Haley told the crowd that before she became governor in 2011, South Carolina was laughed at.
“We had a state that had 11% unemployment and thousands of people on welfare and South Carolina was the butt of the jokes,” Haley said. “We rallied, we got together and by the time I left, we were building planes by Boeing, we were building more BMWs than any place in the world. We brought in Mercedes Benz. We brought in Volvo … We announced jobs in every county in the state.”
She also talked about enacting the voter ID law in 2011, Handling Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and requesting that the Confederate flag be removed from the S.C. government grounds in 2015.
Haley talked about Trump and Biden’s ages and put herself forward as the better option due to the strain of being president.
Patty Pro, of Akron, Ohio, and her friend Linda Thomas, also of Akron, say that they believe Nikki Haley should be president because “she is a classy lady and is a decent individual. We like her policy on the border.”
South Carolina political heavy-hitters Gov. Henry McMaster, Rep. Nancy Mace, and Sen. Tim Scott have given their support to Trump, but 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone and State Sen. Tom Davis were both attendees at the event.
The S.C. Republican primary is open to anyone who is registered to vote in South Carolina who did not participate in the Democratic primary on Feb. 3.
Delayna Earley formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
