The Daily Signal - Minorities 'Perfectly Capable of Getting Photo ID,' Nikki Haley Says of Election Laws

Episode Date: April 29, 2021

Nikki Haley, previously U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and governor of South Carolina, joins "The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss what conservatives realistically can try to accomplish during the next 18 months while faced with a liberal Democratic president and Congress. Haley—a Republican and founder of Stand for America, a 501(c)(4) advocacy group that promotes public policies it says strengthen America's economy, culture, and security—also discusses how conservatives can engage in the debate of issues such as race and election security, including voter ID. "Don't assume that minorities can't do for themselves," Haley says of the latter. "We are perfectly capable of getting a photo ID. We're perfectly capable of picking the school of our choice. We are perfectly capable of understanding how to make the most of our opportunities if they are put in front of us." Plus: We share some of the highlights from President Joe Biden’s address to Congress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And I'm Russell Del Judas. On today's Daily Signal podcast, Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the UN, joins me in a conversation about election reform and the controversy over voter ID, the left's perpetuation of victimhood, and much more. And don't forget, if you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure to leave a review or a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Now, on to our top news. Instead of our usual headlines, we're going to play you some portions from President Biden's joint address to Congress.

Biden started his speech by focusing on the vaccine rollout effort started under President Trump during Operation Warp Speed. After I promised we'd get 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots into people's arms in 100 days, we will have provided over 220 million COVID shots in the last. under days. Thanks to all the help of all of you. He then moved to discussing climate change and jobs. For me, when I think climate change, I think jobs. American jobs plan will put engineers and construction workers to work building more energy efficient buildings and homes. Electrical workers, IBM members, installing 500,000 charging stations along our highways so we can own so we can own the electric car market.

Farmers. Farmers planting cover crops so they can reduce the carbon dioxide in the air and get paid for doing it. Biden discussed enacting legislation aimed at creating government subsidized college and preschool. Take a listen.

The great universities of this country have conducted studies of the last 10 years. It shows that adding two years of universal high-quality preschool for every three-year-old and four-year-old, no matter what background they come from, puts them in the position to be able to compete all the way through 12 years

and increases exponentially their prospect of graduating and going on beyond graduation. The research chose when a young child goes to school, not daycare, they're far more likely to graduate from high school and go to college. or something after high school. When you add two years of free community college on top of that, you begin to change the dynamic.

He also addressed tax hikes. Biden has called for a plan that would raise the corporate tax rate to 28%, which would give the U.S. the highest tax rate for job creators among our national competitors, according to the Heritage Foundation. Here's what Biden had to say. How do we pay for my jobs and family plan? I made it clear we can do it without increasing the deficits. Let's start with what I will not do.

I will not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000. The president addressed what he claimed as an epidemic of gun violence, focusing heavily on so-called ghost guns and closing a number of supposed loopholes. I don't want to become confrontation, but we need more Senate Republicans to join the overall majority Democratic colleagues and close the loopholes required in background check purchases of guns. We need a ban on assault weapons in high-capacity magazines. And don't tell me it can't be done. We did it before and it worked. Talk to most responsible gun owners and hunters. They'll tell you there's no possible

justification for having 100 rounds in a weapon. What do you think deer wearing Kevlar vests? They'll tell you that there are too many people today who are able to buy a gun but shouldn't be able to buy a gun. These kinds of reasonable reforms have overwhelming support from the American people, including many gun owners. He also talked about voting, calling on Congress to pass the For the People Act, which would mandate states to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to register to vote. This move, when combined with a ban on voter ID and restrictions on the ability to challenge the eligibility of a voter, would effectively ensure that underage individuals could vote with impunity, according to a paper from the Heritage Foundation. In the middle of the worst pandemic ever, it should be celebrated. Instead, it's being attacked. Congress should pass H.R. 1 and a John Lewis voting rights act and send it for my guest right away.

The country supports it. And Congress should act now. Now stay tuned for my conversation with former ambassador Nikki Haley at the annual leadership conference. Conservative women. Conservative feminists. It's true. We do exist. I'm Virginia Allen. And every Thursday morning on problematic women, Lauren Evans and I sort through the news to bring you stories in interviews that are particular interest to conservative leaning or problematic women.

That is women whose views and opinions are often excluded or mocked by those on the so-called feminist left. We talk about everything from pop culture to policy and politics. Search for problematic women wherever you get your podcast. We are joined on The Daily Signal by Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the UN and founder of Stanford America Now. Ambassador Haley, it's great to have you with us on the Daily Signal. Thanks so much for having me. Well, to start off, I want to just get your thoughts on how conservatives can accomplish. things during the next two years before the midterms with the majorities of the Democrats in the House and Senate and White House.

Well, I think first of all, take that frustration that you're feeling and remind your family and friends that elections have consequences. And we're feeling the burn right now, but we need to take that energy. We need to put it as a force for good. I don't think Republicans need to be the party of soundbites. We need to be the party of solutions. Let's go back to what we know. Let's go back to the basics. The Democrats have gone so far to the left.

But we need to keep the focus on a strong foreign policy so that we're strong overseas and safe at home. We need to make sure that we really focus on education and where our kids go from here in terms of skilled jobs, but also in recovering from the COVID era. And then I think we need to look at our debt. You know, the financial stability that we need to have is so important. And the idea that we now have more debt than our economy. It's first time since World War II. It's a national security threat.

China and Russia are jumping up and down looking at how weak the dollar is because they'd love to replace it as the World Reserve. We've talked a lot on Twitter about how people want to leave you a victim, but you do not consider yourself a victim. Can you talk about that and just the idea of victimhood that the left talks about? Well, I think first of all, the Dems, every excuse they have for anything is that the other side is racist. We are not a racist country. I have said that for a long time and I know it to be true. If this was a racist, a racist country, I never would have been governor. I never would have become ambassador. But even if you look at the voter ID bill, you know, as much as Georgia has become this issue and they claim it's racist, as governor of South Carolina, I passed voter ID in 2011.

They said that I was keeping people from voting, they said that it was holding people back. And so I said, fine, if you think that what I'm doing is that terrible, anyone that needs a ride to the DMV to get photo ID, I will make sure we pick them up. I will take them to the DMV, get a free photo ID and we will return them home. Out of 5 million people in South Carolina, 25 people asked for a ride. Voters, the number of voters we have went up. Don't assume that minorities can't do for themselves. We are perfectly capable of getting a photo ID. We are perfectly capable of picking the school of our choice. We are perfectly capable of understanding how to make the most of our opportunities if they are put in front of us. And I think Democrats,

have very much been the ones they call us racist, but they're actually the ones having the racist behavior. And I think we need to fight back on that. Well, speaking of the issues of race, how would you say conservatives can engage on racial tensions and really make a difference there? I think the first thing you have to do is listen. I mean, any time you have people who feel pain, it's important to hear that pain. It's important to understand what they're thinking. And talk to them about it, because when you first have a conversation, if you first talk about the things you have in common, everybody lets their guard down. And then you can get to a

solution. You know, in South Carolina, we had the shooting of Walter Scott. And he was an unarmed black man that was shot seven times in the back. It played all over national media for the world to see. The first thing I did was reach out to the Scott family, and then I reached out to law enforcement. South Carolina was the first state in the country to pass a body camera bill. And when we did it, we had the Scott family on one side, and we said, never again will a dirtie. cop get away with shooting someone for no reason. And we had law enforcement. We said never again, will a good cop be blamed for something he didn't do? You have to find the good in both sides, and you have to take them to the next level. And I think there's a way to do that without

shouting each other down. Well, earlier on, you mentioned communist China and the Olympics are going to be held there. Do you have any perspective on that and how the U.S. can be engaging despite the Biden administration and the policies? It looks like they're going to be enforcing there. I mean, I first of all think we should absolutely boycott the Chinese Olympics. The last time that Beijing hosted the Olympics, it was their coming out party. It was their way of saying, look at us, we are a rising star. This time when China comes out with their Olympics, it's to say we are the new superpower of the world. They are abusing a million Muslim Uyghurs, making them change their name, change their religion, change the way they think,

forcing them to drink, forcing them to do things against their religion. They're forcing them into slave labor, physical and sexual abuse. We promised years ago never again would we turn our eyes away from genocide. There's true genocide happening in China. The idea that we would go forward with the Olympics is a mistake, but we should be getting other countries to go along with us. Australia has spoken out. Canada has spoken out.

We should get Japan on board and India on board to go and say, we're not going to let you get away with this. They just gave a virus to the world that killed millions of people. the idea that we would even entertain the idea of a Chinese Olympics is ludicrous. On Twitter, you've also talked about how Democrats want the federal government to control America's elections. And how would you say, are they doing this with the For the People Act and what are the dangers you see there? I think they're doing it any way that they can. I think they're threatening to take the filibuster, but I think the idea that it's, first of all, not a For the People Act.

It's another Democrat farce where they go and try and make you think something that it's not. It's a way of federalizing the elections. It's taking away from the people and putting it in the hands of Washington. It's the last thing that we want. It's the last thing that I think Republicans or Democrats want. I think we have to fight back on that front. Well, something else Democrats are talking about is adding more justices to the Supreme Court. What are your thoughts here?

I think Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the second you add more justices to the court, you're politicizing the court. So from her own words, I think that that's, you know, one thing that we have to, look at. I think you look at Biden's own words. He called it a boneheaded idea. I think it's still a boneheaded idea. The last thing we want to do is politicize the court. The Democrats are just mad that we got more conservatives on there than we did liberals. And so they think that they can cheat their way through it. I think we have to push back and show them that we're not going to do that. Well, you had a really great graphic up on Twitter. I know we were talking about a video a little bit ago, but you had highlighted that you need a idea to purchase a car and to

adopt a pet and just all these various other things that people do every day. Can you talk a little bit about the pushback we're seeing to provide an ID and your thoughts on that? I mean, I think so much of our life is dependent on a photo ID. Whether you're getting financial aid, whether you're buying Sudafed, whether you get on a plane, whether you're getting a driver's license. I mean, the access that we give in terms of photo ID is not something that's hard. And again, it goes back to the fact, don't act like minorities can't get photo IDs. They are perfectly capable of getting photo IDs. We do this every day. And I think that's something that's important. And especially if you told minorities that this is what you need to do to protect

the integrity of the elections, they want their vote to count, just as much as anybody else wants their vote to count. I think that the narrative is that they're making it racist, so people believe it must be racist. But I think when you go and say, are you not able to get a photo ID? Most of them will tell you they have a photo ID. And if they don't have it, they have no problem going to get it. Well, another topic that everyone's talking about in the news right now is the situation at the border. Vice President Kamala Harris has been in charge of that. She hasn't been there yet to visit. And as someone who was a governor of a state, and I'm sure you probably had to deal with issues of illegal immigration, too, even though South Carolina is in a border state, what's your

thoughts on what's happening? Well, we did. We had to deal with the Syrian refugees at the time that Obama was trying to send in to our states, and we said that we weren't going to allow any in South Carolina. You know, as the daughter of immigrants who reminded my brothers, my sister, and me every day how blessed we were in this country, they are offended by any. who comes here illegally. Immigrants who put in the time, put in the price, and did it the right way want to know that others are going to do the same thing. And my parents always said, if you don't follow the laws to come into this country, you're not going to follow the laws when you stay in this country. So what we're looking at it is a crisis that is putting children

in danger, putting families in danger, and what President Trump did that really worked was tough love. I was on the ground in Honduras. I was on the ground in Guatemala. And the one thing that thing that we know from that is the fact that when these people are coming across, we can go to those governments and say, help us help you. If they want to sign them, they have to file from there. They can't file from here. And it worked. I mean, what's amazing to me is that here you have Trump who had a border crisis, went and fixed it, and then Biden turned around and broke it again. And God help us if Kamala ever becomes president, because if this is how she handles a crisis, we're in real trouble. Well, President Biden's new UN ambassador, or Linda Thomas

She's kind of basically been apologizing for America and some of the different statements she's made publicly. And as someone who was previously the ambassador to the UN, what is your perspective on what she's saying? And I guess how do you feel about it since you, you know, you got to speak on behalf of this great country? It hurts my soul. I mean, I've never spoken out against a successor, whether it's governor or ambassador, and the idea that she would go and basically condemn America as a racist country. I mean, the rest of the world is going to look at that and say, what is going on? I mean, when I was you and Ambassador, people would take me to the side and say how unbelievable America was.

They couldn't believe the freedom of speech and freedom of religion and freedom to be and do anything you want to do without government getting in the way. The idea that she is even implying that we're a racist country when all those countries want to be us is an embarrassment. And it's shameful for America. Well, Ambassador Haley, thank you for joining us on the Daily Signal. It's been great having you with us. Thanks so much. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal Podcast.

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