Free Republic

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Thursday downplayed her recent remark that New Hampshire voters would “correct” the results of the Iowa caucuses, telling town hall attendees in the Hawkeye State that she was just “cutting up.” “Oh my gosh,” Haley awkwardly sighed after receiving disapproving groans from many in the crowd at Grand View University in Des Moines when CNN host Erin Burnett brought up the gaffe. The former South Carolina governor, however, defended her comments, arguing that people were taking the remark too seriously.

Know your candidates:Back in 2007 Nikki Haley was a member of the South Carolina state mission to China. Even as a freshman in the state legislature, Haley was a leading ally of Republican Governor Mark Sanford, She was invited to attend the World Economic Forum conference with the governor to China. Nikki Haley’s taxpayer-funded, business class trip cost South Carolinians $6,842.Haley put out a press release highlighting her participation at the WEF conference in China, calling it “a rare opportunity” to meet with Chinese investors looking to expand their influence in the United States.Nikki Haley released a statement at the...

Haley, in response, said that while Americans are rightfully frustrated with illegal immigration at the United States-Mexico border, she urged the audience not to use language like “criminals” to describe illegal aliens because “they’re not.” She said: So I think that what we have to remember and what I’ve always believed is that we’re a country of laws. That is what’s made us strong so it’s incredibly frustrating for a lot of people when they see the illegal immigrants being able to come across. It really is astonishing that after all these years, D.C. can’t figure out how to build...