By VIRGINIA DRYE
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, NH — After an endorsement from Gov. Chris Sununu on Tuesday night in Manchester, both Sununu and Nikki Haley came to Newport for a Town Hall at the Newport Recreation Center on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
Newport native and founder of the Sunshine Initiative Jay Lucas welcomed the more than a hundred people in attendance and Sununu introduced Haley, expressing his excitement Haley’s bid. Haley, who is leading in a Wall Street Journal polls against President Joe Biden, spent most of her town hall discussing her plans for the White House and answering questions from the audience.
Afterwards, Sununu and Haley spoke with the Eagle Times.
Sununu sees a lot of energy, especially around Haley’s race, and everything is going in the right direction, “despite what the national press might say and what former President [Donald] Trump might want you to believe.”
Haley said she feels the momentum on the ground going into the primary.
“We knew the energy was good, but then to turn and have the live-free-or-die governor going endorse our movement of making this a live-free-or-die country was fantastic,” Haley said.
“I think if you look at how New Hampshire is run, and you look at how Chris [Sununu] has governed, it really goes to the heart of how our country should be governed. It’s the fact that you want economic freedom. It’s the fact that you want individual liberty. It’s the fact that you want the government to be close to the people as possible and less bureaucracy. That’s what we’re trying to go for, is to make sure that government secures the rights and freedoms of the people and that it’s not all things to all people. That’s where we’re trying to go back to. The people of New Hampshire get it, they get… where we are trying to go, they get where we are trying to do it, and they are willing to lead the charge and help make that happen.”
At the top of voters’ concerns, Haley said, are questions about the economy, education, border and wars abroad.
“Overall, the number one issues we hear from all the town halls is the economy. It is inflation and it’s the fact that people feel it in the grocery store, they feel it at the gas station, they feel it with their mortgages and they feel squeezed. And I think that is why we need an accountant in the White House.”
“Parents are worried about education. They are worried about how their kids are falling behind. We got to get to the basics in education and get our kids reading again. They are worried about the border, and the fact that we have millions of people crossing the border — that’s just lawlessness, and we got to bring some order back to the border. And then they worry about the wars that are happening around us, and it is something to be worried about, but not if you have someone who understands a strong America prevents war.”
Regarding both governor Sununu and Haley having gubernatorial backgrounds, we asked if that had any influence on the White House.
Sununu stated that because the presidency is an executive position, it is about accountability and pushing policies. A president has to work with the legislature or Congress to get it done.
“I always say, you never know what you are going to be dealt with the legislature, you could get Republicans, you could get Democrats, but leaders get it done no matter what,” Sununu said. “I think you need a congruency between the governorship and the presidency, because you need those skill sets.”
Haley said that “governors know how to cut the bureaucracy. We know how to cut through the red tape, but at the end of the day, we know it is all about results. That’s all that taxpayers want.”
“If you look at the general election polls, you’ve got Biden and Trump, they’re head to head on a good day, he might be up a few points. But, I’m in the exact same polls, that same general electrical polls, I win by 17 points,” Haley said. “That’s a mandate from governorships, House seat, Senate seats… An economic policy that pays down debt, and reduces inflation, a border policy that closes our borders, an education policy that starts to get back to the basics and gets our kids reading again, and a foreign policy that makes America strong and safe, that’s the goal we want to do. So join us at NikkiHaley.com, Now let’s get this done.”
To see the full interview, go to the Eagle Times Facebook page.
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