Nikki Haley - Liberty University Convocation

that's an honor to have you with us before we get started talking about all the great impact you made in the world let's get into your early life let's get into your childhood you mention in the book that you were never wide enough to be white or black enough to be black you're a brown girl in a black and white world welcome to my world by the way alright but talk to us about that you're an immigrants daughter from India and so tell us about your upbringing yes so I was born and raised in a small rural southern town in South Carolina South Carolina peeps in the house I love that and so you know bottom line we were the only Indian family in that small southern town we weren't white enough to be white we weren't black enough to be black my father wore a turban he still does to this day my mother wore a sari they didn't know who we were what we were or why we were there and I remember when I would come home from school after being on the playground and being bullied my mom would always say your job is not to show them how you're different your job is to show them how you're similar and it's amazing how that lesson on the playground really carried with me whether it was the corporate world whether as governor whether is ambassador because when you're faced with a challenge if you first talk about the things you agree on everyone lets their guard down and then you can actually get to the true challenge and reach a solution in the process so begin by finding commonality build the bridge how did something that you went through whether he was being bullied which you were as a child or anything else how did that a principle that maybe you learn as a child get applied as our ambassador you know I think mainly it was understanding the pain of it the pain of being different the pain of having people judge you based on something you can't change and I think that when I was ambassador you feel people's pain and you don't want anyone to feel like they don't deserve human dignity and they don't deserve to have true self-worth and so it makes you fight for people more it makes you fight for their existence that makes you fight for their respect and it makes you fight because they are a child of God and deserve that and the ironic thing is it's conservative Christians now or the group or a group that's targeted and persecuted and it was you know and in the past it was it was more along racial psych you know ethnic lines and it's um it's amazing how much the world's changed well and that was a lot of who we had to fight for I mean around areas in the world Christians are persecuted and Christians are discriminated against and a lot of our fight that we had at the UN was making sure that we were had that we had the resources to fight for them and the protections to defend that reason a lot of these students are here because the schools their state schools where they come from have speech codes and they ridicule conservative Christians for saying something in class it's not not politically correct and so it's just um it's not just one group that's it's put through that but first of all welcome to Liberty University and we are honored to have you here thank you so much it's great to be here this is pretty impressive you've got a good-looking group here well we were we played BYU on Saturday we lost 3124 and the president there was telling me that there are OTC program I think I already said that to tell this the other day yeah they almost lost it until Trump came in office and so a lot of what's happened since the president became president is these kinds of changes that you've advocated for you know you've been pro-life strongly pro-life you've been strongly for you know and I'll tell you I always tell people I'm pro-life not because the Republican Party tells me to be pro-life I'm pro-life because I understand the value of life my husband was adopted and I thank God every day that he was saved I had trouble having both of my children and when you go and see where freedom is non-existent around the world and life is not valued it makes you hold on to it that much more and in State of Israel you've been one of their biggest advocates our number one ally in the Middle East and with moving the capital to Jerusalem and with the BDS movement and we we appreciate all that but also we're CFO of a company was it a company your family owned or was it yes our family had their own business how long do that I started so my parents started a business out of the living room of their home 30 plus years later it was a multi-million dollar company but partially through that process my mom had a bookkeeper that was leaving and she had to train someone and she told my mom she said you know we need to hurry up and find someone to train to do the books I happened to be walking by and my mom grabbed my arm and she said train her she can do it and she said but she's 13 and my mom said trainer and so at 13 I was balancing the bank account I was doing the expenses I was dealing with the with the CPA and the auditors and all of that and it was at that point that I learned the value of a dollar and it was at that point that I knew that when businesses go through hard times you get creative you stretch and you make it count and during the good times you didn't celebrate because you knew the tough times would happen again so I actually grew up in that family business and that is the reason why I ended up becoming an accountant because I had a love of numbers liberty is based on that too that's that's why we treat it as a business and Jerry runs it as a business because he was around for the tough times and so he knows what it's like to go to bed on Friday night and not know who's gonna pay the bills over the weekend and he has to call people and hope not anymore but you never forget that feels right he never pays why he still remembers it in the Helen that's that's a great lesson a lot of students haven't been through suffering or anything so politics isn't quite as important to them as it is to us because once you start paying your bills and you see the government is getting most of your money you're gonna start thinking about who you're voting for when you go through the voting but it's exactly right yeah we it we really did have to issue paychecks on Friday and my father and I would be on the phone all weekend to call on donors and lenders we just need we got to have a million dollars by Monday to cover the checks and so if money came and we didn't keep him covered we'd cover him on Tuesday on somehow we always made it work but it's it's just a miraculous story where liberties come since then but but in 2008 when Obama Barack Obama won the presidency for the first time against John McCain I told everybody I said there's never gonna be a moderate establishment Republican who can beat a Liberal Democrat for the presidency again and they tried it again in 2012 with Mitt Romney and again what the people got smart in 2016 they decided to choose a populist somebody who is not a career politician and I want to congratulate you for having the wisdom to see that change and in your book you talk about how John Kelly Rex Tillerson lots of deep deep spade deep state people really run the government and the president tried for a year to fire the Ambassador to Ukraine who testified this morning and they would his own State Department wouldn't do it and so I just think it's I just think you're on the right track you've you've you've worth of what you've said in your book and with the positions you've taken you're gonna be seeing as somebody who's not part of the old guard Republicans who betrayed conservatives like so many times over the last four decades and so my hats off to you for that well thank you very much Unni you learn early on especially growing up in a small business or growing up in a small town that people need to know the power of their voice and they need to be able to use it and elected officials need to know to listen to them and every one of you has that power and it's a power that you should hold very dear and when you see something wrong you should say it and when you see the grain going this way that doesn't mean you need to go that way you know I think basically one of the stories in the book I talk about is when you had to senior level members within the administration the chief of staff John Kelly and and the Secretary of State at the time Rex Tillerson you know we had a disagreement they pulled me to the side and they said look we're trying to save the country and we need you to join us with that it's not that they thought the president was unfit or rogue they disagreed with him on policy and the problem with that is when the American people elect a president they elect him because of what he says he's gonna do and for others to come in that are unelected to go and think they know better than him it's not only against the Constitution it's against the people who elected him and so at that point I certainly wasn't gonna work with him because they didn't they disagreed with him on things like pulling out of the Iran deal pulling out a Paris climate agreement moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem these were policy issues that he ran on these were policy issues that he was trying to implement but it goes to show that when people do try and push you in a certain direction trust your gut go to that core and make sure you do what is right my loyalty was to the President and to the American and at the end of the day that's where we need to be regardless of what other egos are in the room trying to get you to go the other way one of the things that's really great one of the phrases that you coined is kick with a smile like literally the subtitle of the book is grace and grit and I think you're such an example of holding fast to your convictions having the grit you know but yet at the same time always not letting disagreement become an opportunity for disrespect talk to us about kick with a smile you even talk about just having high heels and fighting the good fight well I think a lot of that is you can be tough but you don't have to be hateful you can be tough and you can be respectful and and I'll tell you the the first time I actually learned that it was I was right out of college it was my first job I was an accounting supervisor for a company and six of their subsidiaries and I was the only female executive at the time and they had you know everybody had come in to a morning meeting and we were all in the boardroom and the president was running late and so we're chatting then all of a sudden the president comes in ten minutes later and the CFO at the time says Nicky why don't you get Paul a cup of coffee and I remember thinking at that time I didn't know what I was gonna do but how I handled that would dictate how they treated me going forward and I said absolutely I would be happy to and I leaned over to the phone and I called my assistant and I said Pam would you please get Paul a cup of coffee he delegated they never they never asked me to do that again so you know the lesson is that you can make your point without you know really creating a large fuss about it and I think that there are times in places where you have to stand up for yourself and you have to know that even in the most intimidating situations the way you conduct yourself literally will dictate how everybody else conducts themselves with you going forward what would you have done Becky well if you were the president in this situation which you would have been I definitely would a guide in your coffee but you're my husband and yeah okay you have to get that's why they have me up here to keep him under control [Music] Nikki and I'd Nikki and I decided we need an electric shocker under his seat and I could just sit right there sorry I don't think it would work but he would move seats he would just change his chair we we were with we were at a party the other night Wednesday night with John juniors book signing party you know I noticed you supported Marco Rubio and then Ted Cruz and Ted Cruz was there and I he and I had a nice chat and I asked him if the reason he grew a beard was because I did he said yeah that was the reason a J I said and I guess I didn't believe it I'm sure he was joking but anyhow we it's just I got a lot of grief for supporting president Trump and a lot of it was from Cruz supporters because they didn't understand the president and they because of his mannerisms in his way they didn't think he would be really strong on issues that were important to the average Americans and I think everywhere I go people who are on the fence and maybe didn't vote last time I've now come across and I think you're in that category you were you've been discussed as a one of the perfect candidates for for national office four years in twenty I guess both in 2012 and 26 no it was two different election cycles where but you made it clear that you had already made a commitment to the people of South Carolina and you were going to stay there and we admire you for that but but at some point you got to step out a little bit well you know just if there was an interesting situation on how the president and I decided to work together so I actually knew the president a few years prior when I ran for governor the first time and won the primary this envelope showed up and it had this great gold trim on it and inside was a support check and there was a note that said you're a winner and so fast forward we stayed and touched and were acquaintances through there fast-forward to the 2016 Republican primary a lot of talent on that stage 16 people were there and I did I endorsed a different candidate I endorsed Marco Rubio in which the president then tweeted nikki Haley is an embarrassment to South Carolina and I responded in a tweet that said bless your heart so that's great cigrip right there Stagg Grayson's so wait catch that cake with a smile so then the president ended up winning the primary I ended up supporting him in the general and then Reince Priebus his chief of staff called and said Nikki you know the president wants to see you and I said for what and he said he wants to talk to you about Secretary of State and I said right I can't be Secretary of State I'm a governor and he said well he wants to see you I need you to come meet with him tomorrow so I went to meet with the president I walk in the door and the first thing he says is well I guess your guy didn't win he remembers everything very easily he doesn't forget anything and so then I went and I said look I'm not your person you know we've got a lot going on in the world and I think that you know you need someone that doesn't need a learning curve but I'm here to help you and I will support in any way that I can so I leave go back to the the job I loved serving the state that raised me fast forward to the end of the week rights calls again and he said okay US ambassador to the United Nations I said rights I don't even know what the United Nations does I just know everybody hates it and he said well the president's gonna call you on Monday you need to be ready president called on Monday and he said all right Nikki are you gonna do this and I said well I said I've been a governor I don't want to work for anyone else I would want to work directly with you so it needs to be a cabinet position he said done and I said well I'm a policy girl and I'd want to be in the room when decisions were made so I would need to be on the National Security Council he said done and I said well I'm not gonna be a Wallflower or talking head I need to be able to say what I think and that's when he said that's exactly why I want you to do this and he was true to his word from the first day till the very last when da jr. was here Wednesday we were joking about his appearance on the view and I had to have to ask you what do you think's worse appearing on the view our appearing before the UN General Assembly General Council which they are truly very similar you are going obviously into enemy territory and it's rapid fire from everywhere else so yeah they're actually really said one of only 13 was 13 countries who voted against the death penalty for adultery blasphemy homosexuality and a lot of could I get that right I don't know how many countries there were but you know at the time it was I mean the death penalty this was something where they were wanting to use the death penalty against those that had different sexual preferences anyway I just I just would say that we you know this this student body part you've got to be one of their favorites it who do you think is is your favorite candidate after 2020 [Music] [Applause] oh well no but David's right we have gotten more requests to have you visit Liberty than any other politician is that right absolutely I think I think one of the reasons our students are so drawn to your leadership is because of a moment where we saw you be very vulnerable and honest what you've what you've said was the toughest moment as governor of the state of South Carolina will you talk to us a little bit about the tragic shooting and how that affected you we just watched you lead and you led and and God used you to be a healer and so talk to us a little bit about that moment well it was it was a very tough moment for the people of South Carolina and actually the people of the country I mean here you had 12 people who do what so many South Carolinians do every Wednesday night they went to Bible study but on this night someone else showed up he didn't look like them he didn't act like them you didn't sound like them but they didn't throw him out they didn't call the cops instead they pulled up a chair and prayed with him for an hour and when he went in for his last breath in the last prayer that they they bowed their heads he started to shoot these were people like Ethel Lance who had lost her daughter two years prior to breast cancer and she had a broken heart but she would go around mother Emmanuel Church cleaning singing one day at a time sweet Jesus that's all I ask of you give me the strength to do every day what I have to do our youngest victim tywanza sanders had just graduated from college had the world in front of him and on that night he stood in front of his 87 year old great aunt Susie and said to the killer you don't have to do this we mean no harm to you or it was people like Cynthia Hurd who simply had a life motto to be kinder the necessary that's who these people were they weren't famous but they loved their family they loved their church and they loved their community and we found the state of South Carolina fell to her needs it was the first time we had had a shooting in a place of worship and two days later the killer appeared before the judge and the families were there and unprompted unrehearsed one at a time those family members stood in front of the killer and forgave him it was such a powerful moment that through all of their pain they still had the faith to forgive him so in South Carolina we held tight we held strong we didn't have riots we had vigils we didn't have protests we had hugs and we went through a tough month in terms of debating the Confederate flag but we held together we held strong and the Confederate flag came down yeah what did that represent that moment because obviously that was not a popular choice by some of the people that you represented and then it was for some others and you you were just navigating through that moment as a leader trying to serve all the people you are not calling someone who was for the Confederate flag you know remaining on a flagpole hateful you were you understood that that was heritage for them but at the same time the nation needed healing your state needed healing well and walk us through that moment well the other side of that was right after the the murders happened the killer came out with a manifesto and there he was holding the Confederate flag that's what brought the whole issue up and so naturally when all of this happened the media came in trying to take over they wanted to define the moment they wanted to talk about racism they wanted to talk about the death penalty they wanted to talk about guns they they wanted and I really did strong-arm them and say there will be a time and place where we can have these debates but right now we're gonna be with the families we're gonna get them through the funerals we're gonna lift them up and so that issue of the Confederate flag for so many South Carolinians was not about hate it was about heritage it was about sacrifice it was about service you know and so for them but once he held up that flag he hijacked that from them and so what we wanted was for the Confederate flag to be put in a respectful place which is why we had it moved to the museum but it was tough it was having to talk through with the people of South Carolina and let them know that this was a time we didn't need to fall apart we needed to hold tight we needed to keep our faith strong and we needed to move through this together for the good of everyone and I think the people of South Carolina stepped up in a way and showed the world what dealing with tragedy with true faith and prayer looks like I think it's fitting that a Republican governor was the one who led on that issue you because it was Southern Democrats who supported segregation Jim Crow laws slavery they're the ones that put the flag up there to start with course of course and the Republicans were always proud that my family was one of the few Republican families back in the 20s and 30s in this area you can put all the Republicans in a phone booth around Lynchburg in those days and my again for how to hide more african-americans than any other company had a lot of companies than any other companies in town and it's just it's been flipped on its head the schools act like the Democrats got the Civil Rights Act passed it was Republicans I got a past and I just think that's something that somehow we got to educate the populace especially young people on they can you yes yeah can you tell us in moments like that and and I know you're always so vulnerable and honest you're so not political when it comes to these moments ambassador Haley Nicky tell us about your faith your sister in Christ moments like that you way with the tragedy a hate crime you know in the very place that you're serving how does your faith in those kind of moments come into play it was really all I had at that moment I mean if you go in and you read in the book you'll find that through it all I attended every one of the funerals they were all open casket so we watched the families fall over in desperation over the bodies I knew what had happened to that in in that room when the murders happen and I developed post-traumatic stress disorder and it was something that was very difficult I didn't let anyone know at the time but I would go out into a press conference and I would come back into the office and I would cry I would go and deal with an issue with the state and I'd come home and I'd just get in the bed and I knew something was very wrong and my husband knew something was very wrong and that's when a doctor our friend and a doctor said look yours you're showing strong signs of PTSD and I I felt so desperate at the time and the one thing that I will say saved me was my faith because that's when I really just threw it in God's hands and said I need to be lifting up the people of South Carolina I need you to get me through this and I think that that's really the moment where I felt my faith grow to something so much bigger than me and something where you just say you know God will strengthen me through this and you know again be strong and be courageous do not be afraid do not be discouraged and He will protect you what what advice do you have for young people we're talking to 18 to 22 year olds maybe women especially like how what what did they do if they have that urge and that feeling they they're called to do something in politics or run for governor everything you've done tell us a little bit about how how you accomplished so much and then give give us all advice on you know my mom always said whatever you do be great at it and make sure people remember you for it and I think that that's the first thing is make the most of today but when challenges come in front of you learn to push through the fear you know whenever something was presented to me your your nature is to step back and analyze the situation but when you push forward and you push through the fear you find out you're so much stronger on the other side if I didn't push through the fear I wouldn't have been a legislator if I didn't push through the fear I would never run for governor if I didn't push through the fear I wouldn't have become an ambassador and what if I wouldn't have pushed through the fear look at how much of my life I wouldn't have had and there would have been nothing but regret and so I think you have to really have faith in yourself and a gut that allows you to push forward if you know you're doing it for the right reasons if you know you're doing it to serve your fellow Americans and really do something that's gonna make the world better you have to push we need you to push we need more women in office we're 51% of the the population we've got to see more women in office yeah I think the average female to male ratio in college is now 60% female 40% male you guys are taking over the world well I know I'll go back and quote Margaret Thatcher no offense to you fellas but it was Margaret Thatcher that said if you want something said ask a man if you want something done ask a woman there's a few exceptions to that though [Laughter] bless their heart what's up but since our time in prayer I really mean this I think this even now just hearing you be honest and vulnerable about just dealing with overwhelming stress in your life I think that just makes you more human and we don't look for politicians that pretend to be perfect we look for people who who are people who want to lead people to a better day a safer place a healing environment and so we're thankful for you but there's so much stress on your life you're also you know I'm just a person who is a part of a family then you have all the responsibilities on you how can we pray for you I want you to know these students mean it we're going to put you on our prayer list when we see you on the news we're gonna be praying for you asking the Lord for you how can we put you on our prayer list what's something right now that we can be asking the Lord for your family well I I mean I think always just strength and peace are the two things that I always pray for and you know I do I have a son and that's a senior in high school and a son and a daughter that's a senior in college they're gonna need to come to Liberty University don't you think you need to have those get the Liberty so strength and peace are something that I always pray for she's a big Clemson fan y'all she she texts she texts coach sweetie plays and suggestions on how to win the game my husband's so embarrassed I have texted Davo before every game for years and my husband's embarrassed because I do give him football advice when I text him and so I'll say you know Dabo you're not doing enough to protect sunshine who's our quarterback or Davo what was the defensive line do you know I'll always say these ten types of things and so I've done it every game for years and he's always had one response go Tigers that's literally all he said working because you won the national champion me they give you coach's cell phone number but when I left the United Nations he sent me a text he said you know I may have a coaching position available and I said be careful what you ask for so well if he keeps winning at the rate that he's winning I feel like he's more and more qualified to one day be Alabama's coach so tell him he's doing a good job we're not giving him up let's pray for Niki yeah also one other David during your prayer I know your dad your father has had health issues this week and please the students if they keep keep David's father in mind and also Benjamin Liberty's favorite [Music] they turn yeah he turned 40 this week [Music] have we sing happy birthday to Benjamin can we sing yes he's at 40 this have we done that this week all right yeah absolutely let's sing a quick happy birthday thanks Becky ready [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we love you bendy let's do this since we're on this banjee come on up real quick and pray over senator hailey come on come on up and pray we want to pray for you he loves you by the way he was so excited this morning he's not been feeling his best but when he found out you're here he was like I'm coming alright so come on up real quick and pray over senator hailey what closing prayer do you like her outfit by the way those are Georgia colors all right so those are not cleansing colors I think their liberty their liberty colors that's right we got that red also Hannah Blair's here with her husband she's a 20-17 Liberty graduate remember the track team and she's done an incredible job in Washington writing for all sorts of people one of the books she just finished about to finish is for Sean Spicer I saw Sean the other night I told him I said you need to call that book tiny dancer and she liked the idea he's on Dancing with us kicked off this good to see you Benji's gonna pray for our side close us in prayer father God we come before you the babble for ourselves and thank you that you died to forgive us not because of our righteousness but because of your righteousness thank you for this day we praise you and thank you for her job for her health for her well-being what but that you would be with her all the days of her life as he's going back to work and sure not worship her job was a only hearing you alone that your blessing family emotionally financially and spiritually I fell for the trumps then you bless them and that they know they are loved by you or thank you for these beautiful people here Lord I pray that they would come to know you as Savior Lord those who don't just hear my voice again will just hear your voice we love you Father because we want to be obedient to you thank you for this day after that wonder when she gives all go and she'll watch our generation grill we'd be obviously you and every please tell me one more time thanks ambassador Haley for being our yes her book [Applause] the book is for sale by the way today listen her book is for sale for five dollars for you alright so it's over there go grab it and support her god bless you guys we love you

Channel: Liberty University

Views: 155,020

Rating: 4.8320146 out of 5

Keywords: Liberty University, LibertyU, Liberty, Jerry Falwell, Nikki Haley

Id: QsVSkC1YKF0

Length: 36min 27sec (2187 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 15 2019