Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dished red meat to the GOP grassroots at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) but faced a tepid response in front of a largely pro-Donald Trump crowd.
Haley, who launched her presidential bid last month, and Pompeo, who has said he's considering a run of his own, laid into Democrats during their speeches as they tried to gin up support for their challenges to former President Trump, hitting on topics that typically rile up the crowd at the annual gathering.
"The socialist Democrats just don't want to spend our money. They want to take our freedom," Haley said. "Now they want to ban gas powered cars and gas stoves. When it comes to destroying our freedom, the socialist Democrats will never stop. It's time for the American people to stop them."
"Our greatest threats are here, they're from within," Pompeo added in his own speech shortly after. "We're losing respect for individual freedom."
Haley repeated her controversial calls for mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old, suggesting she would be amenable to lowering the age threshold.
She and Pompeo also dedicated sections of their speeches to debates over education, warning that Democrats were seeking to sway vulnerable children in public schools.
Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), March 3, 2023, in National Harbor, Md.Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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"I will get the self-loathing out of our schools. I will get the self-destruction out of our culture," Haley said.
"Every parent knows what's going on in our schools today," added Pompeo. "They've had about enough of it."
Both candidates leaned into their backgrounds, with Haley underscoring the historic nature of her bid, noting she is the daughter of Indian immigrants, and Pompeo underscoring his military service in Germany during the Cold War.
"I'm a woman, I'm a minority, and I'm the daughter of immigrants. I'm the proof that liberals are wrong about everything they say about America," Haley said.
The duo notably declined to mention Trump by name, but they glanced at Republicans' electoral struggles in recent years, noting GOP losses in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections with nearly identical calls for a return to conservative values.
"We've lost the popular vote int eh last seven out of eight presidential elections. Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans," Haley said.
Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at Gaylord National Convention Center, March 3, 2023, in National Harbor, Md.Sarah Silbiger/Reuters
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"We lost three elections in a row, the popular vote in seven of the last eight. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is they've lost trust in conservative ideas," Pompeo said in his own address.
Pompeo also hinted at grumbles among some Republicans over Trump's personality.
Pompeo said he'd heard Americans say that "we're electing a president, not a Sunday school teacher. That's true. But having been a Sunday school teacher, maybe we could get both."
But in a sign of how tough of a climb the two have at winning over a grassroots still largely in line behind Trump, both were met with largely lukewarm responses during pauses seemingly intended for applause.
Haley was also confronted by supporters of the former president who yelled "Trump 2024" at her shortly after leaving the ballroom where she gave her speech.
In an attempt to halt the confrontation, one man shouted back, "Conservatives lose when we fight each other."
But most attendees at CPAC seemed to side with the Trump supporters, saying they wouldn't consider a vote for Haley in the 2024 GOP primary.
"Only if Trump wasn't running, I would," Adam Radogna, a small business owner from Cleveland, said when asked if he'd consider voting for Haley in the primary. "It's Trump first before anyone."
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
