President Joe Biden claims the Republican Party doesn’t stand for anything. That’s quite a statement coming from someone who spent his first year in office floundering on the job.
“Name me one thing they’re for,” Biden says. In fact, Republicans stand for everything America needs — especially right now.
Where Biden and his fellow Democrats are attacking our national principles, sapping our national will and dimming our national future, Republicans are advancing a positive vision that can unite our country. We will undo his damage and unleash a new era of American strength and pride.
Biden is right about one thing: Republicans stand opposed to his agenda. So do most Americans.
Our country doesn’t want an entire generation of kids to lose their education and their futures. We don’t want skyrocketing inflation, stemming from trillions of dollars in wasteful spending, that steals from our wallets. We don’t want an economy that’s stuck in reverse and a government that’s taking away our freedom. We don’t want more crime on our streets and more dead police officers.
We don’t want a country that’s ashamed of itself and afraid to stand up for itself. And we don’t want a president who’s not so much leading from behind as sleeping from behind.
No, Americans wish to see our country emerge stronger from the crisis after crisis that Joe Biden has worsened, created or both.
Every American wants our country’s children to succeed and have the best shot at the best life. That’s why Republicans fight for our kids’ education. We refuse to let the COVID generation become a lost generation, a serious risk after so many lockdowns and so much politics in the classroom.
We stand for keeping classrooms open and empowering families to choose the school that’s best for them. And we stand for ending critical-race-theory curricula and anything else that imparts discrimination and instructs kids that some of them are oppressors and others victims simply because of their skin color.
Every American wants an economy where store shelves are stocked, where paychecks get bigger and go further, where work beats welfare and where small businesses can become big deals. That’s why Republicans stand for capitalism, the only system that can repair the economy.
We know that free citizens are smarter than central planners and that families know better than politicians how to spend their money. And we know that our experiment in self-government is infinitely better than the current experiment in socialist government.
Every American wants to walk down the street without fear. That’s why Republicans stand for public safety and strong borders. We support police — not call to defund them. We believe in enforcing the law — not ignoring it. And we want to stop the flow of drugs and violence into our country from outside our borders.
Every American wants to preserve the peace and prevent a war. That’s why Republicans stand for American strength. The men and women who serve in our military (including my husband, Michael) need a massive investment to keep them 10 steps ahead of anyone who wants to hurt us.
Our enemies, especially Russia and Communist China, need to be held accountable for their actions and crimes. And our allies need to know that America has their back — because after the fall of Afghanistan, they’re not sure we do.
Finally, and most important, every American wants America to survive. That’s why Republicans are fighting to defend our nation’s founding principles. We know our country isn’t perfect, but we also know the principles at the heart of our country are perfect.
Now is no time to swap liberty, opportunity, free speech and the rule of law for tyranny, censorship and the raw exercise of power. Now is the time to apply our principles to make our country freer, better and fairer for all.
And take it from me, the first female governor of South Carolina and the first minority female governor in the United States: America is not a racist country.
What does the Republican Party stand for? Everything that makes America the best country in the world — everything that can make America even better. The real question is why Joe Biden and the Democratic Party don’t.
Nikki Haley served as governor of South Carolina (2011-17) and US ambassador to the United Nations (2017-19).
Part of a series in which The Post has invited senior Republicans to answer President Biden’s claim the GOP doesn’t stand for anything.
