CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) \u2014 Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, announced her candidacy for president on Tuesday, becoming the first major challenger to former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.
\nThe announcement, delivered in a tweeted video, marks an about-face for the ex-Trump Cabinet official, who said two years ago that she wouldn\u2019t challenge her former boss for the White House in 2024. But she changed her mind in recent months, citing, among other things, the country\u2019s economic troubles and the need for \u201cgenerational change,\u201d a nod to the 76-year-old Trump\u2019s age.
\n\u201cYou should know this about me. I don\u2019t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you\u2019re wearing heels,\u201d Haley said. \u201cI\u2019m Nikki Haley, and I\u2019m running for president.\u201d
\nHaley, 51, is the first in a long line of Republicans who are expected to launch 2024 campaigns in the coming months. Among them are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
\nPresident Joe Biden has said he intends to seek reelection in 2024, stalling any jostling for the Democratic nomination.
\nHaley has regularly boasted about her track record of defying political expectations, saying, \u201cI\u2019ve never lost an election, and I\u2019m not going to start now.\u201d
\nIf elected, Haley would be the nation\u2019s first female president and the first U.S. president of Indian descent.
\nThe daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley grew up enduring racist taunts in a small South Carolina town and has long referenced that impact on her personal and political arc.
\nIn the three-and-a-half minute video, Haley referenced that past, saying she grew up \u201cnot Black, not white \u2014 I was different.\u201d
\nDespite that, Haley insisted that America is not a racist country: \u201cNothing could be further from the truth.\u201d Playing in the background of her video were images of media reports related to The New York Times Magazine\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning \u201c1619 Project\u201d \u2014 which centered the country\u2019s history around slavery.
\nHaley never mentions Trump by name in the video, instead saying \u201cthe Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again.\u201d Haley leans into a call for \u201ca new generation of leadership,\u201d which has become the refrain of her messaging leading up to the launch.
\nThere appears to be openness among Republicans to new leadership, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In an open-ended question asking Republicans to choose who they want to lead their party, a majority of Republicans didn\u2019t choose either Trump or DeSantis, considered the former president\u2019s top rival. But they also didn\u2019t have a clear alternative in mind.
\nEleven other politicians, including Haley, are named by just 1% of Republicans as their preferred leader.
\nIn a statement, Taylor Budowich, spokesman for Trump\u2019s super PAC, said Haley was \u201cjust another career politician.\u201d
\n\u201cShe started out as a Never Trumper before resigning to serve in the Trump admin,\u201d he said. \u201cShe then resigned early to go rake in money on corporate boards. Now, she\u2019s telling us she represents a \u2018new generation.\u2019 Sure just looks like more of the same, a career politician whose only fulfilled commitment is to herself.\u201d
\nBefore entering politics, Haley was an accountant. She defeated the longest-serving member of the South Carolina House in 2004 in her first bid for public office. Three terms later and with little statewide recognition, Haley mounted a long-shot campaign for governor against a large field of experienced politicians.
\nShe racked up a number of high-profile endorsements, including from the sitting South Carolina governor, Mark Sanford, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a tea party darling.
\nWith her 2010 victory, Haley became South Carolina\u2019s first female and minority governor \u2014 and the nation\u2019s youngest at 38. She earned a speaking slot at the 2012 Republican National Convention and gave the GOP response to President Barack Obama\u2019s State of the Union in 2016.
\nThe defining moment of Haley\u2019s time as governor came after the 2015 murders of nine Black parishioners in a Charleston church by a self-avowed white supremacist who had been pictured holding Confederate flags.
\nFor years, Haley had resisted calls to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, even casting a rival\u2019s push for its removal as a desperate stunt. But after the massacre and with the support of other leading Republicans, Haley advocated for legislation to remove the flag. It came down less than a month after the murders.
\nIn the 2016 presidential primary, Haley was an early supporter of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, later shifting to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. She ultimately said she would back the party\u2019s nominee.
\nShortly after Trump\u2019s victory, he tapped Haley to be his U.N. ambassador, a move that rewarded Henry McMaster, the lieutenant governor who was the nation\u2019s first statewide elected official to back Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign. Haley\u2019s departure cleared the way for McMaster to ascend to the governorship he had sought, since losing a bruising primary to none other than Haley seven years earlier.
\nWith her Senate confirmation, Haley became the first Indian American in a presidential Cabinet.
\nDuring her nearly two-year tenure, Haley feuded at times with other administration officials while bolstering her own public persona.
\nOne of her most memorable moments as U.N. ambassador came in 2018 after National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow suggested Haley had suffered \u201cmomentary confusion\u201d when she said Russian sanctions were imminent.
\n\u201cWith all due respect, I don\u2019t get confused,\u201d she responded. The first half of the quote became the title of her 2019 memoir.
\nHer departure from the job later that year fueled speculation that she would challenge Trump in 2020 or replace Pence on the ticket. She did neither.
\nInstead, Haley returned to South Carolina, where she bought a home on the wealthy enclave Kiawah Island, joined the board of aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co., launched herself on the speaking circuit and wrote two books, including the memoir.
\nAfter the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, Haley initially cast doubts on Trump\u2019s political future but said she wouldn\u2019t challenge him in 2024. She later shifted course, citing inflation, crime, drugs and a \u201cforeign policy in disarray\u201d among her reasons for considering a White House campaign.
\nDuring his South Carolina stop last month, Trump told WIS-TV that Haley had called to seek his opinion on running for president. Trump pointed out her earlier pledge not to run against him but said he made no attempt to stop her.
\n\u201cShe said she would never run against me because I was the greatest president, but people change their opinions, and they change what\u2019s in their hearts,\u201d Trump said. \u201cSo I said, \u2018If your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Apnews<\/p>\n
Tags\uff1anicki haley, trump, presidential campaign<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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