Nikki Haley makes campaign stop in Henrico

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is barnstorming the commonwealth with one message.

“If you will keep going in this fight, I promise you our best days are yet to come,” said Haley.

Haley addressed a packed room inside The Westin Richmond, in Henrico County, Thursday afternoon. The GOP primary candidate says she needs to be at the top of the republican ticket in the race for The White House.

“And the American people have spoken loudly. 70% of Americans say they don’t want Joe Biden or Donald Trump,” said Haley, the former South Carolina governor and former UN ambassador.

Haley talked about what she calls the hard truth on a number of topics, including the nation’s debt, being tough against Russia and securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

She also blasted her primary rival, former President Donald Trump, over a recent border deal tanking in Congress.

“Congress should have gotten in a room and strengthened the bill and come out and done something. But Donald Trump told them not to do anything until after the general election,” said Haley.

WATCH HER FULL SPEECH:

Morning Consult, a polling group, has Trump up 78% to 19% over Haley in Virginia. Even with those odds, political experts say Haley is trying to tap into more moderate suburban women across the commonwealth.

“We can’t be a country in disarray in a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won’t survive it,” said Haley.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, President Joe Biden rallied in northern Virginia in January, which marked his first campaign stop ahead of the election.

“We have a country to save, but in order to save her it takes a lot of courage. Courage from everybody where. Courage from me to run. And courage for everyone to know don’t complain about what happens in a general election if you don’t vote in this primary. It matters,” said Haley.

Trump will rally at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on Saturday. His campaign released a statement in response to Haley’s visit.

“We do not recognize an opponent other than Joe Biden,” said Chris LaCivita.

Trump’s team says he will be at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on 403 N 3rd St to deliver remarks at the Get Out The Vote rally on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Virginia is one of 15 states and one U.S. territory holding primaries on Tuesday, March 5.