Nikki Haley can cure poverty better than Obama: Marco Rubio

Washington: Nikki Haley, the Indian-American Governor of South Carolina, would do a better job in reducing poverty than US President Barack Obama, a top Republican presidential candidate has said.

"I think Nikki Haley will do a better job curing poverty than Barack Obama," Florida Senator Marco Rubio said participating in a Republican presidential debate in this South Carolina city.

Rubio, who is currently running third in national polls after frontrunner Donald Trump and runner-up Ted Cruz, yesterday said the issue of poverty is critical, because for him, poverty is free enterprise not reaching people.

"Today, we have antipoverty programmes that don't cure poverty. We don't cure poverty in America. Our anti-poverty programmes have become, in some instances, a way of life, a lifestyle," he said.

"Now, we do need anti-poverty programmes, you can't have free enterprise programmes without them, but not as a way of life. And so I have a very specific proposal on this and I can't describe it all, but it basically turns the programme over to states," he said.

"It allows states to design innovative programmes that cure poverty, because I think Nikki Haley will do a better job curing poverty than Barack Obama," Rubio said.

Haley's name appeared three times during the two-hour long debate.

At another occasion, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said Haley is at the top of the rankings of American Governors.

"South Carolinians need to know this, because the Cato Institute, which grades governors based on their spending, rank him (Ohio Governor John Kasich) right at the bottom. And Governor Haley is ranked at the top," he said.

Haley, the two-term Governor of South Carolina, is highly seen as a potential vice presidential candidate for the Republican party.

The 44-year-old was praised across the political parties for her speech in response to the Obama's State of the Union Address in January.