Nikki Haley Announces Candidacy for 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination
Nikki Haley has announced her candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.[0] The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador is challenging her former boss, Donald Trump, for the party’s nomination. She made her announcement in Charleston, South Carolina in front of a crowd of several hundred supporters.
Haley, 51, is the first candidate to challenge Trump.[1] Rumors have it that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan may be potential candidates.[2] In her speech, Haley called for term limits and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.[3] This would apply to the current presumptive presidential frontrunners, President Biden and Trump, both of whom are 80 and 76 years old respectively.[4]
In her launch video, Haley emphasized new leadership, but her criticisms of the “stale ideas and faded names of the past” could be applied to either Biden or Trump.[5] Trump responded by saying he wished her luck and cited her previous commitment to not run against him in 2024. She also spoke about her immigrant parents and said that “nothing could be further from the truth” when it comes to America’s alleged racism.[6]
Haley’s candidacy is a tricky one.[4] She was a loyal member of the Trump administration, but she has also been critical of the former president.[7] Her attempts to differentiate herself from Trump may be difficult, as polls show her trailing both Trump and DeSantis. Additionally, her home base of South Carolina is a key early state in which both Trump and DeSantis are likely to invest heavily.[8]
Despite the difficult path to securing the nomination, Haley’s bid has been warmly received by Republican voters. Many attribute this to her diversity, being both a minority woman and relatively young.[7] While her chances may seem remote, she is still in the conversation, and as Trump said, “stranger things have happened.
0. “Nikki Haley Is The First Woman of Color To Run For The Republican Nomination” FiveThirtyEight, 14 Feb. 2023, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nikki-haley-is-taking-on-trump/
1. “Nikki Haley is running for president as first woman of color for GOP nomination” NPR, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1157122486/nikki-haley-confederate-flag-race-president-2024
2. “Whoopi Goldberg loses it over Nikki Haley's presidential campaign announcement: ‘You lost your mind'” Yahoo Life, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/whoopi-goldberg-loses-over-nikki-201317825.html
3. “Haley treads carefully seeking nomination in Trump’s GOP” Roll Call , 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.rollcall.com/2023/02/15/haley-treads-carefully-seeking-nomination-in-trumps-gop/
4. “Contest for president in 2024 begins for Republicans with a foray into the culture wars” The Boston Globe, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/15/nation/2024-begins-gop-with-foray-into-culture-wars
5. “Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential campaign is a throwback to the pre-Trump GOP” Vox.com, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/2/15/23601423/nikki-haley-2024-presidential-campaign
6. “Nikki Haley makes presidential run official in spirited Charleston launch” Charleston Post Courier, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/nikki-haley-makes-presidential-run-official-in-spirited-charleston-launch/article_142a533c-a331-11ed-9f08-7b4af4d5bd9b.html
7. “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
8. “Nikki Haley's Announcement Video Is a Sloppy Mess” New York Magazine, 14 Feb. 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/nikki-haley-needs-to-work-on-her-presidential-elevator-pitch.html
