Republican Nikki Haley announces she’s running for president

Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, announced her candidacy for president on Tuesday, becoming the first primary challenger to former president Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.

The announcement, delivered on video, marked an about-face for the former Trump cabinet official, who said two years ago that he would not challenge his former boss for the White House in 2024.

But he changed his mind in recent months, citing, among other things, the country’s economic problems and the need for “generational change”.

“You should know this about me. I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts people more if you wear heels,” said Haley. “I’m Nikki Haley and I’m the president.”

Haley, 51, is expected to kick off her campaign with an event in Charleston, SC, on Wednesday.

Haley has regularly boasted about her track record of defying political expectations, saying, “I’ve never lost an election, and I’m not going to start now.”

If elected, Haley would become the country’s first female president and the first US president of Indian descent.

In addition to opposing Trump, Haley appears to be defying history. Republican women running for president failed to gain much traction in the primaries, a list that includes Elizabeth Dole (2000), Michele Bachmann (2012) and Carly Fiorina (2016).

In addition, candidates from the former Trump administration and outside are also considering presidential bids.

Former vice president Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo, both secretaries of state and CIA director in the Trump administration, have published books and increased appearances in recent months ahead of the expected decision.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, easily up for re-election in 2022, is among the past and current governors being closely watched.

New York-based Republican donor Eric Levine told the Associated Press that Haley is one of Trump’s preferred alternatives.

“I think as a woman of color and the daughter of legal immigrants from India, she will give the Democratic Party no reason to exist,” Levine said. “I think he’s an outstanding candidate.”

The controversial Confederate flag decision

Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in 1972 in rural South Carolina, she has long spoken about a childhood in which she felt she didn’t fit in. He was raised in the Sikh religion with his mother wearing a traditional sari, and his father wearing a turban.

Married to Michael Haley since 1996, the former accountant defeated the longest serving member of the South Carolina House in his first political campaign. After six years in the legislature, he was considered a long shot during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

The GOP field is filled with more experienced politicians, and at times they face blatant racism. Then-state Sen. Jake Knotts appeared on a talk show and used a racist slur in reference to Haley. He apologized, saying it was a joke.

Still, Haley became the first woman and person of color to be elected governor of South Carolina — and the nation’s youngest state executive. After winning re-election in 2014, his second term was marred by crisis.

He spent weeks attending the funerals of Black parishioners shot to death by self-confessed white supremacists in a Charleston church in 2015. He pushed for and signed legislation to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, which had flown for more than 50 years.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Haley said she was “embarrassed” by Trump’s reluctance to deny the KKK.

But shortly after Trump won the presidency, he agreed to serve as the new administration’s ambassador to the United Nations, a cabinet-level position.

A newcomer to international politics, Haley was an unconventional choice as envoy to the United Nations, where she helped lead the administration’s efforts to counter what it sees as anti-American and anti-Israeli actions by international bodies, and to address U.S. tensions with European allies and with Iran and North Korea.

White House friction

During his tenure, the administration also withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council and UN educational and scientific agencies, for taking positions it deemed hostile to Israel.

Neither Haley nor President Donald Trump gave a specific reason for her resignation at the end of 2018.

Trump said his departure was about six months in the making, a timeline that coincided with a spat between Haley and the White House, when he drew the president’s attention to a televised preview of the administration’s planned imposition. of the new round of sanctions on Russia.

While the sanctions never materialized, White House officials said the plan had changed without notifying Haley, and top economic adviser Larry Kudlow suggested Haley was confused.

“With all due respect, I’m not confused,” Haley said in a pointed reply to the West Wing.

Since that departure, Haley has joined the board of aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. and hit the speaking circuit, reportedly commanding fees of up to $200,000 US. He also wrote two books.

Public support for Trump continued even after the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, which followed weeks of unsubstantiated claims by Trump about widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

“I’m really proud of the Trump administration’s successes. Whether it’s foreign policy or domestic policy, we must implement it,” he tweeted three weeks after the Jan. 6 attack.