Nikki Haley tears into Biden for 'demonizing' American energy producers

2024 GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has slammed the President Biden for 'demonizing' energy producers - and has vowed to return the U.S. to world dominance by making the nation energy independent.

DailyMail.com followed Haley on a tour of a massive oil rig just outside of Midland, Texas, Thursday.

The ex-South Carolina Governor said oil is 'hugely important' for national security and criticized Biden for 'demonizing' energy producers.

'I mean, look at this beautiful rig,' she told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview following the tour, pointing behind her. 

Haley, who served as the former Ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration, said that while she was at the U.N., enemies of the U.S. didn't want 'us to have a strong military' and 'they didn't want us to be energy independent.'

DailyMail.com accompanied Haley on a tour of a massive oil rig just outside of Midland, Texas, Thursday

The former South Carolina governor discussed a top criticism she has of the Biden administration which she says has pushed its green policies over promoting national security through strong independent energy policies. 

When Biden took office in 2021, he immediately stopped the Keystone XL pipeline,  and then added a ton of green subsidies on federal lands, Haley stated.

The White House, she claims, then made sure any domestic energy production was tightly controlled. 

'In my administration, we would stop criminalizing these energy producers and we would make sure that we are partners with them and do whatever it takes to be energy independent,' Haley pledged.

'We would make sure we stopped controlling where they produce and how much they produce. We would roll back the green subsidies that we see today. And we would make sure that we're focused on speeding up the permitting process for the pipelines and getting the EPA out of the way.'

'A full strong foreign policy is good for energy policy,' she reiterated during the interview with DailyMail.com. 

'That's why we came here to Midland today. And I hope every American can see what we saw today.'

Her remarks came hours after it was reported that China is funneling billions of dollars into Cuba to establish a 'spy base' just 100 miles off the coast of Florida.

DailyMail.com got her first reaction to the hostile move by China. 

'Why is everybody surprised that China's putting a spy base in Cuba?' she replied. 'I mean, this is the same country that had a spy balloon go over America.'

'I mean, it didn't go over South Carolina because we have beautiful beaches, which we do. It went over South Carolina because we have we're a military state,' Haley added. 

China is stealing '$600 billion in intellectual property from us every year,' she continued, and said the Biden administration is doing absolutely nothing about it. 

'We have to put an end to it. We've got to let them know that we're onto them. We've got to stop all of this,' Haley said.

The presidential hopeful added that if Cuba moves forward with helping the Chinese establish the spy center she would ensure 'they'll feel even more pain and they feel today' and China should be slapped with sanctions. 

'Let's build up a strong military and become energy independent so that we're back on the leader side and not allowing China to have have havoc with us,' Haley said, also mentioning that it would diminish Russia's power as it continues its war against Ukraine.

During the tour of the rig, Haley interacted with workers and discussed their day-to-day operations, challenges and learned about the constraints energy producers are enduring based on administration policies.

'It's beautiful to see up close,' she remarked during the tour at the top of the rig in the so-called 'dog house' where operations stem from. 

The Helmerich & Payne (H&P) Rig 480 is located in Stanton, Texas, about a 20 minute drive from Midland and employes roughly 1,000 workers in total servicing six large wells that will garner about $60 million every seven months. 

'I mean, look at this beautiful rig,' she told DailyMail.com pointing behind her

Workers on the rig told DailyMail.com that they work 12 hour shifts for 14 days straight and then have 14 days off to spend with their families

On Thursday, the Haley campaign put out a five-point plan for 'American energy dominance'

Workers on the rig told DailyMail.com that they work 12 hour shifts for 14 days straight and then have 14 days off to spend with their families. There are living accommodations for the rig staff onsite. 

In addition, many of the employees live in neighboring states including Louisiana and make 9-plus hour drives to Texas every two weeks. 

They say its an excellent job - extremely labor intensive hard work but rewarding. 

'I've never felt like I've earned a dollar more in my life than in this job,' one worker remarked to DailyMail.com.

Rig workers can make a high six-figure salary and are still able to ranch their own land due to the shift schedule, which runs day and night for a full 24-hour operation, seven days a week.

Rig managers say that there has been a 'lack of understanding' from the Biden administration on energy, and that they are committed to safety and protection of environmental standards and shouldn't be punished. 

The instability of not knowing the next administration's energy policies, especially as the oil industry is still grappling with a massive decline in the number of workers since the COVID-19 pandemic, is especially difficult. 

On Thursday, the Haley campaign put out a five-point plan for 'American energy dominance,' which includes getting the government out of the way and speeding up permitting for pipelines.

Standing up to 'energy dictators in Russia, Iran, and Venezuela' is also critical, she states.