Nikki Haley Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign
On Tuesday, February 14, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced her 2024 presidential campaign, making her the first candidate to challenge former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. Haley is set to make her campaign announcement on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina.
In a 3½-minute video, Haley addressed the importance of a new generation of leadership to restore fiscal responsibility, secure the border, and strengthen the country.[0] She also touched upon her own immigrant roots, saying, “I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants—not Black, not white. I was different. But my mom would always say: ‘Your job is not to focus on the differences, but the similarities.’ And my parents reminded me and my siblings every day how blessed we were to live in America.”[1]
Haley was the US ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump presidency from 2017 to 2018 and was the first woman to lead the Palmetto State from 2011 until 2017.[2] She has pitched herself as a defender of American interests abroad and warned of the threats posed by China and Russia.[3]
Her campaign announcement has been met with resistance from Trump, who earlier mocked her for her earlier promise to support him if he ran in 2024. Other high-profile Republicans are expected to make their own announcements, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.[4]
Haley has sought to make her campaign more than a referendum on Donald Trump, touching on the Republican party’s need to move away from “Washington establishment” and connecting with the common person. She has also addressed the need to look beyond the differences in the past, saying, “Some look at our past as evidence that America's founding principles are bad. They say the promise of freedom is just made up. Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil. Nothing could be further from the truth.”[5]
Haley lacks a clear direction of who or what she desires to become.[6]
0. “Nikki Haley announces she is running for president” The Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/14/nikki-haley-president-campaign-2024/
1. “Nikki Haley Throws Down First 2024 Challenge to Trump” Yahoo Life, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/nikki-haley-releases-2024-presidential-121220163.html
2. “Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announces run for president” WBUR News, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.wbur.org/npr/1156733476/nikki-haley-runs-for-president
3. “Haley announces 2024 presidential bid, Trump's first challenger” The Jerusalem Post, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-731546
4. “Haley announces 2024 Republican presidential bid in first challenge to Trump” CNA, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-2024-presidential-election-haley-announces-campaign-challenging-trump-3277416
5. “Nikki Haley launches presidential campaign, challenging Trump for GOP nomination” ABC News, 14 Feb. 2023, https://abcnews.go.com/US/nikki-haley-launches-presidential-campaign/story?id=97168476
6. “Nikki Haley Is the Perfect Republican Presidential Candidate (for 2015)” The Bulwark, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.thebulwark.com/nikki-haley-is-the-perfect-republican-presidential-candidate-for-2015
