
A campaign event held by Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley in New Hampshire over the weekend was disrupted by a group of climate protesters apparently upset by her perceived opposition to their environmental demands.
Footage from the interruption revealed that the demonstrators held signs and shouted slogans depicting the former United Nations ambassador as a “climate criminal.”
The protesters were ultimately escorted out of the venue, but instead of denouncing their behavior, Haley scolded her own supporters for heckling the group.
After instructing the crowd not to jeer at the first disruptive protester to be kicked out of the event, she added: “My husband and other military men and women sacrifice for us every day for her to be able to do that.”
A short time later, additional protesters chimed in.
“See, you never come to a dull rally,” Haley added.
Her sympathy for the protesters was not limited to a defense of free speech, however, as she revealed later in her remarks.
“I want to address the young people who did protest today, who are truly worried about the environment,” she said. “And what I will tell you is we’re all worried about the environment, too. We all want clean air. We all want clean water. We all want a world that we can have our kids and our grandkids grow up. That’s not up for debate.”
After detailing the common ground she apparently felt her campaign shared with the climate protesters, she offered some additional detail about her environmental platform.
“What we need to do is do it in a sensible way,” the former South Carolina governor added.
“First, call out India and China for the big polluters that they are. They are the ones that have to start cutting our emissions if we ever plan on doing something that’s really going to save the environment.”
Haley is betting big on her performance in the upcoming New Hampshire primary, though her supporters have recently backed away from earlier projections that she will emerge as the outright winner.
Sununu tonight with a serious downgrade of Haley expectations: “We always wanted to have a strong second. That's the only expectation we ever laid out there.” Via @byronpitts #fitn
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) January 18, 2024
Long before her latest remarks on the environment, Haley’s critics have argued that her campaign has been built on a foundation that involves embracing moderate, if not liberal, ideas.