Nikki Haley on South Carolina’s ‘whipping’ economic wins

Former U.N. ambassador and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at The Gathering conservative political conference in Buckhead on Friday, August 18, 2023. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Former U.N. ambassador and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at The Gathering conservative political conference in Buckhead on Friday, August 18, 2023. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Before Nikki Haley was Donald Trump’s ambassador to the U.N., she was a two-term Republican governor of South Carolina who had a knack for winning major projects over Georgia.

On stage at The Gathering, host Erick Erickson ticked through some of the economic development coups that Haley scored – including the successful recruitment of a Volvo plant despite an all-out push by Georgia for the multibillion-dollar complex.

Former U.N. ambassador and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at The Gathering conservative political conference in Buckhead on Friday, August 18, 2023. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

“We were whipping y’all’s butt!” the White House hopeful said with a smile.

She described an overhaul of the state’s economic development department with a focus on high-skilled manufacturing jobs. She added an applause line for the conservative crowd.

“I didn’t want any company coming to South Carolina if they were unionized,” she said. “We never wanted a unionized company.”

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