Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and Trump administration ambassador to the United Nations, criticized the GOP Wednesday for caving to socialism.
"Last year, I said 2020 was the year socialism went mainstream. 2021 is the year socialism took control," Haley said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think-tank, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
"The left is tearing down the American people. Yet too many on the right are rolling over, when we should be fighting back. Out-of-control spending by Democrats who seek to create a 'cradle-to-grave' welfare state endangers American capitalism and will significantly increase taxes on the middle class," Haley said in her speech, according to the Free Beacon.
"Democrats are on the verge of creating the first cradle-to-grave welfare state in American history. They’re creating a country where dependency is the default. It's a guaranteed recipe for national decline," Haley continued.
"Working middle-class families will pay once in higher taxes, twice through lower wages, and three times when the bill comes due for the trillions of dollars that Democrats are adding to the national debt."
"It pains me to see some of our friends turning their backs on our principles," Haley said. "You know what I’m talking about. The conservatives who claim capitalism no longer works. They conclude that economic freedom fails families and hurts workers. So they’re trying to create a hybrid capitalism — a hyphenated capitalism. It’s all a sham." Socialism, she added, "isn’t progressive. It’s backwards. And it has no place in America — not now, not ever."
Haley's remarks come at a time when Congress is considering two expensive pieces of legislation: a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill with bipartisan support and a progressive social safety net bill totaling $1.75 trillion.
The social spending bill, known as "Build Back Better," includes money for paid family leave, fighting climate change, childcare and universal pre-K, Medicare expansion, and extended child tax credits.
Haley is often mentioned as a Republican presidential candidate for 2024, but she has said she won't run if former President Donald Trump opts to run again.
Related stories:
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.