Repeatedly hammering President Joe Biden but also not sparing former President Donald Trump from criticism, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley on Friday unveiled her economic vision for the country if she’s elected to the White House. 


What You Need To Know

  • Repeatedly hammering President Joe Biden but also not sparing former President Donald Trump from criticism, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley on Friday unveiled her economic vision for the country if she’s elected to the White House

  • The former South Carolina governor is calling her agenda the “Freedom Plan,” arguing that Biden is “swapping freedom for socialism"

  • Haley vowed to give thousands of dollars of tax relief to middle-class families, make permanent tax cuts for small businesses and take a hard line on spending

  • Haley said Social Security and Medicare spending is unsustainable and reform is needed

The former South Carolina governor is calling her agenda the “Freedom Plan,” arguing that Biden is “swapping freedom for socialism.” She said “Bidenomics” — the term the White House has given the president’s economic strategy — is “government control of everyone, from job creators to working families.”

“Freedom is the engine behind our great middle class, and freedom made America the world's leader in innovation, doing more good for more people than any other country in world history,” Haley said during a policy speech at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. “Freedom has always been our secret weapon.”

She accused Biden of “trying to control the lightbulbs we use, the cars we drive, the stoves we buy and countless other parts of our daily lives.”

Haley vowed to give thousands of dollars of tax relief to middle-class families by eliminating the federal gas and diesel taxes and slashing income taxes. She also said she would make permanent tax cuts to small businesses that were included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  

She also said she’d take a hard line on spending, starting with fighting for a “zero-based budget.”

“Congress will start from scratch every year looking at what we have done, rather than what we've always spent,” Haley said. “No more pork, no more autopilot programs that have no purpose but still get billions.”

Haley also promised to roll back Biden subsidies on clean energy, veto any spending bill that does not restore the government to pre-pandemic levels and withhold paychecks from lawmakers if they do not pass a budget.

While her attacks were largely directed at Biden, Haley also took aim at Trump and congressional Republicans. 

“Republicans talk a big game, but they're nearly as reckless as the Democrats on spending. Donald Trump added 8 trillion to the national debt, and Republicans in Congress brought back earmarks and pork projects only 10 years after killing them,” said Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration.

Haley said Social Security and Medicare spending is unsustainable and reform is needed. She acknowledged it’s a politically thorny issue, but said, “Americans deserve the hard truth.”

She, however, promised to keep the programs intact as is for people who are in their 40s or older. But for the next generation, she said, changes are needed, including limiting benefits on the wealthy, expanding Medicare Advantage plans to help increase competition and raising the retirement age.

“Americans are living 15 years longer than they were in the [19]30s,” Haley said. “If we don't get out of this 20th century mindset, Social Security and Medicare won't survive the first half of the 21st century.”

Haley’s agenda also includes increasing oil and gas drilling and limiting federal workers to no more than five years in the same position. She said gaining energy independence will save families money on their utility bills and allow the U.S. to not be reliant on countries such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela. She argued the limit on public servants’ tenures is needed because “unelected, unaccountable” employees are “running riots over our rights.”

At the heart of Haley’s agenda, however, is concerns about China, which she has made a central issue to her entire campaign. 

She said Beijing is an “existential threat” that is angling to become the world’s largest economy and is “preparing for war.”

“My highest priority is keeping Americans safe,” Haley said. “We must do everything in our power to prevent a war and keep the peace. That only happens when America is strong.”

That’s why an emphasis on restoring freedom is needed in the U.S., Haley said. 

“It broke the Soviet Union's back without firing a single shot, and freedom can lift America to new heights, leaving Chinese communism on the ash heap of history,” she said.

Before Haley’s speech, the Democratic National Committee attacked her economic record as South Carolina’s governor.

“As Nikki Haley rolls out her MAGAnomics agenda today, remember that after putting the wealthy and corporations over working families as governor of South Carolina, Haley is now running on an extreme agenda of gutting Social Security and Medicare and making permanent Donald Trump’s tax scam that increased the deficit and gave hundreds of billions in tax breaks to the top one percent,” the DNC said.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.