NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took an implicit dig at former President Donald Trump, calling on GOP voters to end the party’s losing streak by throwing their support behind her in the primary election.
“We’ve lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections,” Haley said on Friday. “Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. That ends now. If you’re tired of losing, then put your trust in a new generation.”
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The veiled criticism came during Haley’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, marking her first appearance at the annual event since the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations announced her presidential campaign last month.
Although Haley did not specifically name Trump in her remarks, the comments are among the closest she has gotten to criticizing her former boss as she paints herself as the GOP’s best bet to win the White House in 2024. Trump lost the popular vote in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
“If you want to win — not just as a party, but as a country — then stand with me,” Haley said. “Let’s save our country from weakness and wokeness. Let’s bring back a nation that’s strong and proud.”
Haley used her 15-minute address to pitch her candidacy, appearing before a crowd donned in MAGA hats and Trump-related attire at a conference that has increasingly aligned itself with the former president in recent years. Trump is even scheduled to give the conference’s closing address on Saturday evening, possibly setting the stage for him to respond to Haley’s remarks.
Haley has not focused attacks on Trump in the first few weeks of her campaign, mainly targeting President Joe Biden as she calls for a "new generation" of leadership. Those same talking points were central to her CPAC speech on Friday, as the former South Carolina governor accused Democrats of throwing the United States in a “downward spiral toward socialism.”
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“Joe Biden and the Democrats are giving us oppression, poverty, and lawlessness,” Haley said. “When it comes to destroying our freedom, the socialist Democrats will never stop. It’s time for the American people to stop them! Socialism is weakening our country at the worst possible moment.”
Haley’s comments come as high-profile conservatives meet in Washington for the annual conference this week in what has been billed as the year’s largest gathering of activists on the Right. The conference is scheduled to run through Saturday, featuring several prominent conservatives, from GOP presidential candidates to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.