Haley sidestepping economic forum class participation amid China flap

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is sidestepping questions from voters and reporters about her participation in World Economic Forum training classes.

Haley told an Iowa voter last spring she did not take part in any World Economic Forum training programs, even when she was a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2011. While a Haley campaign spokesman declined to address her time as a Young Global Leader, the former South Carolina governor herself promoted her participation in World Economic Forum “seminars” when she was invited to the 2007 conference hosted in Dalian, China.

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“This was a local government delegation trip with South Carolina business leaders 16 years ago,” the Haley spokesman told the Washington Examiner. “Ron DeSantis has no problem recruiting and expanding Chinese businesses in Florida right now.”

The voter told Haley last May in Davenport she had read she had been “part of the Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum Young Leadership training courses.”

“You were not?” the woman asked after Haley shook her head.

“No,” Haley said. “I was not involved in any World Economic Forum training classes. So wherever you’re reading it, just know that that’s debunk[ed].”

But after Haley traveled to China for the 2007 World Economic Forum, which has continued to be chaired by German engineer and economist founder Klaus Schwab, with then-Gov. Mark Sanford, two other South Carolina lawmakers, and business leaders, she described the confab as “a rare opportunity for us to expand economic development prospects here in Lexington County and across our state.”

“While in China, Rep. Haley met with dozens of global business leaders — many of whom are looking to invest in North America or expand their operations here,” her state legislative campaign said in a press release at the time. “She also attended seminars focusing on issues such as workforce development, technology infrastructure, the environmental impact of globalization and ‘investment psychology,’ or the reasons top CEOs and investors choose to locate jobs and capital in one location versus another. “

“Our region and our state have benefited by being competitive in the international arena,” Haley added in a statement. “That’s something we should be proud of, but it’s also something we must build on in order to create a better quality of life for our state and our region.”

Haley was asked about the 2007 World Economic Forum again in 2010 during her gubernatorial campaign, with her aides telling reporters she “was proud of the policy and economic development lessons and information gained by the trip to China then — as evidenced by this press release sent out when she got back — and remains so now.” Tensions between the United States and China have since increased.

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Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) have been criticizing each other’s foreign policy records, particularly regarding the Israel–Hamas war, Ukraine, and China, before next week’s third Republican presidential primary debate in Miami.

Former President Donald Trump averages 59% support nationally, compared to DeSantis’s 13% and Haley’s 8%, according to RealClearPolitics.