Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday will attempt to appeal to swing voters and more moderate Republicans as she delivers an anti-abortion speech in a call to reframe an issue that the GOP has grappled with since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Republicans won’t win the hearts and minds of Americans unless they’re able to address difficult and personal issues with compassion while sticking to our principles,” Haley campaign spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said in a statement.
The former South Carolina governor’s remarks come as abortion emerges as a central issue among 2024 Republican hopefuls, who want to attract GOP base voters who favor hardline anti-abortion policies without alienating more moderate voters ahead of the general election.
Haley’s “going to make the case that you can be a pro-life conservative Republican and win a general election,” a person familiar with the speech told CNN.
The person familiar with the speech, which will be delivered in Arlington, Virginia, told CNN that Haley is expected to highlight how this issue feels personal to the former governor as she is the only woman in the 2024 GOP field and has spoken about how she had difficulty conceiving her children. Haley will speak about how her husband, Michael Haley, was adopted – something she has pointed to on the campaign trail as a reason for why she opposes abortion.
The Washington Post was first to report on details of Haley’s speech.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, the Republican Party has struggled at times to maneuver the politics of abortion. Democrats had a stronger-than-expected showing in the 2022 midterms as they tapped into supporters of abortion rights, who were motivated in the wake of the high court’s ruling and as several conservative states moved to ban or severely restrict…
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