DALLAS – Nikki Haley, we love you!

Those five words would soon become a recurrent phrase throughout the night. Chants of support and electrifying applause echo through the South Side Music Hall as Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took the stage on Thursday night.

As part of her bid to win the Republican nomination, Haley is doing a two-part stop in Texas in hopes of edging out former President Donald Trump after losses in Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire.

Haley started her rally off with a bang, immediately bringing up the hot-button issue of current President Joe Biden’s mental acuity.

“I’m not being disrespectful when I say that we all know people who are 75 that can run circles around us,” Haley said. “And then we know Joe Biden and Congress right now is the most privileged nursing home in the country. We need to remember, these are people making decisions on the future of our country so we’ve got to start making sure we hold them accountable.”

In addition to promises to bolster the middle class, Haley hopes to implement a “catch and deport” policy regarding the issue of border security.

“8.5 million illegal immigrants have come across that border,” Haley said. “We’ll do a national program where every business has to prove that the people they hire are in this country legally and we will defund sanctuary cities. We will go back to the remain in Mexico policy because no one should even set foot on U.S. soil and instead of catch and release, we’ll go to catch and deport.”

Haley shared her views on veterans treatment in the United States and expanded on her personal experience with her husband, Michael, who is actively deployed in Africa.

“If a veteran needs a doctor’s appointment at the VA on average, it takes 29 days, ” Haley said. “It’s shameful how we treat our veterans. When Michael came home from Afghanistan, he couldn’t hear a lot of noises, he couldn’t be in crowds, life had passed him by. We can’t just love our men and women when they’re gone, we have to love them when they come back home too.”

Baby killer!

Free Palestine!

Who do you serve, the American people or Israel?

Frequent comments such as these led to security escorting protesters out of the hall as Haley supporters chanted in support. But it brought up the question, when would Haley address the situation in Palestine? Soon enough the crowd would have its answer.

“You look right now and the world is on fire,” Haley said. “We’ve got a war in Europe, we’ve got a war in the Middle East. You’ve got North Korea testing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. and you’ve got China on the march. Don’t blame America because right now the president and Congress don’t tell people why Ukraine matters. They don’t tell people why Israel matters. When I am president, I will over communicate and tell you.”

With Haley’s competition for the GOP nomination being Trump, she made some remarks on his candidacy in her final moments on stage.

“Look at what Donald Trump is offering you,” Haley said. “An American family is going to pay more than $2,800 a year and he put us $8 trillion in debt. Now he’s saying he wants to cut social security by 24%. Do we want more of the same or do you want to go in a new direction? If you join with us in this movement, I promise you our best days are yet to come.”

Haley is seeking to be the first female U.S. president. However, many of her supporters don’t think that’s the distinguishing mark of her campaign.

“She’s the clear winner in my opinion of all the people still in the mix, namely Biden and Trump,” supporter Stuart Silver said. “It’s definitely a plus to have a woman and a woman minority in and for the Republican party, a party that’s typically white male dominated. I think that would speak volumes and that would help to kind of revamp the party and re image the party and attract new voters. She’s a pro, she touched on some things about what she did in South Carolina to really turn that state around.”

With Haley and Trump vying for the GOP nomination, some attendees view Haley as a fresher candidate.

“I am 100% in her corner and I previously served in the Trump administration,” supporter Julie Roberts said. “It has reassured me that there is a group of Republican voters that want to see a new generation leader and they showed up to support her tonight. She’ll go to Washington and she’ll shake it up, but she’s going to shake it up differently than what we saw eight years ago.”

Roberts, along with other Haley supporters, takes issue with the remarks Trump has made about Haley.

“I had some real issues too with the fact that former President Trump went after her about her husband and I would say to him, where’s his wife,” Roberts said.

Trump supporters who attended the rally left with their minds unchanged. Some even heckled during the rally before being escorted out.

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