WASHINGTON — Two fresh faces in the Republican Party — House Speaker Paul Ryan and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — are offering messages of diversity and openness to immigrants that could answer the GOP establishment’s increasingly desperate search for an antidote to the loud pronouncements of presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

Delivering the GOP rebuttal to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, Haley, a daughter of Indian immigrants, called for welcoming legal immigrants to the country as long as they’re properly vetted, and for resisting the temptation “to follow the siren call of the angriest voices.”

She acknowledged Wednesday that her comments were partly aimed at Trump, telling NBC’s “Today Show”: “Mr. Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irresponsible talk.”

Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican beginning his third month as speaker of the House, has been pledging to offer a bold agenda that will position the GOP as a positive alternative to Obama and the Democrats. Last weekend he helped convene an anti-poverty summit with some of the GOP presidential candidates — Trump was absent — where he pressed for “a safety net that is designed to help get people out of poverty.”

Such rhetoric from two young and charismatic officeholders cheers establishment Republicans who fear that the rise of Trump and of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — with their frequent strong words on immigrants in the country illegally — could ruin the GOP for years, eliminating any chance of winning the White House if either is the nominee and turning off swing voters, minorities and women.

“Speaker Ryan and Gov. Haley provide an important contrast, particularly with independent voters, to show what the Republican Party is really about, and it’s not about Donald Trump,” said Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist. “The key, though, is continuing to shine a light on leaders like the two of them, and that will depend in part on who we nominate.”

Whether Haley or Ryan can do anything to sideline Trump or Cruz remains to be seen. That’s not their explicit goal, and Haley, in particular, drew a backlash from some conservatives for her State of the Union rebuttal.

“Trump should deport Nikki Haley,” conservative talk host Ann Coulter said over Twitter.

Trump himself described Haley as a “very nice woman” and said he had no problem with being depicted as angry.

“I am. I’m very angry because I hate what’s happening to our country,” Trump told a crowd of more than 10,000 people at a rally in Pensacola, Florida, Wednesday evening. “I’m really angry because we’re being led by very stupid people that don’t know what they’re doing.”

And at the Capitol, Haley’s comments on immigration were being interpreted by House conservatives including Rep. Steve King of Iowa, a Cruz supporter, as a call for unlimited legal immigration into the country, something they reject.

“I keep trying to remember when a principled conservative has been given the opportunity to provide that rebuttal,” King told reporters, adding that Haley’s comments would indicate she’s not one.

“They are looking for someone who fits the profile that they want to be the face of the Republican Party and that’s the rationale,” King added later in an interview, speaking of party leaders. Asked if he would want Haley as the face of the party King said laughingly: “I think she’s beautiful so I’d be happy if she’s the face of the party.”

Yet for a GOP establishment that has struggled with how to respond to Trump and Cruz, Haley and Ryan stand as a welcome rejoinder.