The erstwhile governor of South Carolina and envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, revealed her presidential campaign plans on Tuesday. She is now the first significant contender to outgoing president Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024.
The ex-Trump cabinet member’s statement, made in a video, is an about-face after she said two years ago that she’ll never run against her former boss for the presidency in 2024.
However, Haley has now had a change of heart, citing, among other things, the nation’s economic problems and the requirement for “generational transition.”
Get excited! Time for a new generation.
Let’s do this! 👊 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023
A Solid Opponent
Haley, 51, is anticipated to officially kick off her campaign on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina.
Haley frequently boasts, “I’ve never lost elections and I’m not looking to begin now,” regarding her record of bucking political norms.
If elected, Haley would be the first American president of Indian heritage and the country’s first female president.
Haley intends to challenge history, in addition to taking on Trump. Republican female candidates for president have struggled in the primaries; this list includes Carly Fiorina (2012), Michele Bachmann (2012), and Elizabeth Dole (2000).
Candidates within Trump’s previous government, as well as those outside of it, are also thinking about running for president.
Before expected choices on whether to run, former Vice President Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo, who served as CIA director and secretary of state, respectively, in Trump’s administration, have increased their public appearances and written books recently.
One of the governors from the past and present being keenly followed is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who just won easy reelection in 2022.
Republican fundraiser Eric Levine, who is headquartered in New York, told the Associated Press that Haley is one of the preferred candidates to replace Trump.
Here we go again with Whoopi. The thought of me running for President makes the liberals’ heads explode. I wonder why? 😉 #AmericaIsNotARacistCountry pic.twitter.com/b9h9hcJ9CM
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023
White House Squabble
For taking views it considered to be unfriendly to Israel, the Trump administration left the UN Human Rights Council and the UN organization for education and science during her time in the White House.
Haley’s resignation in late 2018 was not explicitly explained by either her or President Donald Trump.
Trump claimed, at the time, that the resignation had been scheduled for about six months, a period of time that happened to coincide with a prominent dispute between Haley and the White House.
This dispute was over her decision to criticize the administration for its intention to impose fresh sanctions on Russia in a television interview.
White House officials claimed the plans altered without briefing Haley when the penalties never materialized. Senior economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Haley was confused.
In a stern retort to the West Wing, Haley stated, “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”
After leaving, Haley joined the board of Boeing Co., a producer of airplanes, and began giving speeches, allegedly charging up to $200,000. Also, she published two novels.
Her public backing for Trump persisted even after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. This was after weeks of Trump making unfounded accusations of massive election fraud in 2020.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
