Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley defended her recent call to the United States to scrap foreign aid to the "bad guys" in the international arena.
Voicing her bewilderment at the level of aid given to U.S. enemies over the year as well as the burgeoning national debt, Haley leaned into her foreign policy experience as former United Nations Ambassador to call for a reevaluation of foreign aid.
HALEY KEEPS FUNDRAISING NUMBERS CLOSE TO CHEST AS DONORS AWAIT TIM SCOTT DECISION
"The No. 1 thing I would do is stop giving foreign aid to our enemies. We give $46 billion in foreign aid," Haley said on Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures. "When I'm president, we will no longer give foreign aid to our enemies. We will stop that; we'll start being smart and will start being strong again."
Haley rattled off a number of examples of countries she claimed received foreign aid over the years, despite being hostile to the U.S. She pitched the policy shift in an op-ed to the New York Post published Friday.
"You're giving $2 billion to Pakistan, who are harboring terrorists trying to kill our soldiers. You're giving half a billion dollars to Zimbabwe, the most anti-American African country there is. You look at China, we're giving China money for the environment," Haley said. "Are you kidding?"
Her proposal channels some of the America First ideology her onetime boss, former President Donald Trump championed. Haley has long criticized the U.S. approach to rivaling nations in the U.N. and called for strength abroad.
Pivoting to domestic issues, Haley underscored how government spending can contribute to unbridled inflation and bashed the beltway for spending like "drunken sailors."
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
"If you're looking at inflation, let's stop the spending. I've never had a job in DC, and I think DC is broken. They're spending like drunken sailors — they need to go on a diet. We need to start building things in America again," she added.
Haley, who launched her campaign earlier this month, is currently lagging behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), ringing in fourth place in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate, though some polls have shown her inching up the ladder to third place.