As Nikki Haley files for South Carolina’s Republican primary, her former constituents remember her dangerous, out of touch record as governor — from signing an extreme abortion ban with NO exceptions for rape or incest, to refusing to expand Medicaid for the most vulnerable South Carolinians. Haley has been pushing the MAGA agenda since 2011, and South Carolinians aren’t letting her take any part of it nationwide. 

As governor, Haley signed into law an extreme abortion ban that made no exceptions for rape or incest and threatened doctors with jail time for providing care for their patients. 

TIME: “The law passed the General Assembly last week and blocks women from having abortions after 19 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. … Doctors who violate the law could face a fine or jail time.” 

Newsweek: “Haley described herself as ‘very pro-life’ and has spent most of her political career fighting for anti-abortion legislation, including signing a law as South Carolina governor in 2016 banning the procedure in most circumstances after 19 weeks of pregnancy unless the mother’s life is at risk.”

Haley refused to expand Medicaid as governor, depriving over for 351,000 South Carolinians access to affordable healthcare, and she threw her support behind a plan to end Medicare as we know it. 

Washington Post: “Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who is planning to announce her own presidential bid this month, also praised Ryan’s Medicare proposal at the time and said lawmakers should examine Medicare and Social Security spending to address federal debt.”

“‘What they need to be doing is looking at entitlements,’ Haley said in a 2010 interview on Fox News. ‘Look at Social Security. Look at Medicaid. Look at Medicare. Look at these things, and let’s actually go to the heart of what is causing government to grow, and tackle that.’”

Her lack of support for the hardworking families she represented comes as no surprise considering she proposed eliminating the state’s corporate income tax as part of a trickle-down economic agenda that benefitted corporations’ bottom lines over hardworking South Carolinians.

Aiken Standard: “Gov.-elect Nikki Haley, who takes office next week, campaigned on eliminating the state’s corporate income tax.”

Augusta Chronicle: “State budget advisers predict eliminating South Carolina’s corporate income tax over four years, as both Haley and House Republicans propose, would reduce state revenues by $61.6 million in the first year and $218.3 million annually when the phase-out is complete.”

Haley has also used her time on the campaign trail to tout her stance as a China hawk, but the reality is she gladly welcomed investments from Chinese businesses in South Carolina as governor.

Fox News: “During her time as governor of the Palmetto State from 2011 to 2017, Haley was welcoming of several investments made by Chinese companies in South Carolina to either expand operations or create new ones. In 2016, Haley praised a $300 million investment in Richland County, South Carolina, by the Chinese fiberglass manufacturer China Jushi Co. Ltd., which cited ‘great support’ from the state government for doing so. … Earlier, in 2015, Haley welcomed a $72 million investment in an existing facility by Haier, a Chinese appliance manufacturer.” 

Queen City News: “Nikki Haley’s statement on China deemed ‘misleading’ based on time as SC governor”

While Haley took credit for taking down the Confederate flag in South Carolina, she entertained Confederate groups and later called the flag an emblem of “service and sacrifice.”  

CNN: “Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley defended states’ rights to secede from the United States, South Carolina’s Confederate History Month and the Confederate flag in a 2010 interview with a local activist group that ‘fights attacks against Southern Culture.’”

“Haley, who was running for South Carolina governor at the time, made the comments during an interview with the now defunct ‘The Palmetto Patriots,’ a group which included a one-time board member of a White nationalist organization.”

New York Magazine: “Years after basking in national plaudits for her action on the the flag, Haley backtracked while serving in the Trump administration, saying the Confederate flag was seen as an emblem of ‘service, and sacrifice, and heritage’ before it was ‘hijacked’ by the Charleston murderer Dylann Roof.”