Nikki Haley announces 2024 presidential bid, first to challenge Trump

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she is running for president, seeking the GOP nomination for the 2024 election.
• Haley is the first major challenger to former President Donald Trump despite previously saying she wouldn’t challenge him in 2024.
• Trump said last month that Haley had sought his opinion on running and did not stop her.

Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley launched her candidacy for president on Tuesday. The former United Nations ambassador becomes the first major challenger to former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.

In Haley’s video announcement, she cited inflation, crime, drugs, a “foreign policy in disarray,” and the need for “generational change” among her reasons for considering a White House campaign.

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

A long list of Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is expected to launch their 2024 campaigns in the coming months.

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.”

Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, would be the country’s first female president and the first of Indian descent if elected.

In 2004, Haley launched her first bid for public office and defeated the longest-serving member of the South Carolina House. After serving for three terms, she run for governor and won in 2010. She became South Carolina’s first female and minority governor at age 38.

In 2012, Haley earned a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention and delivered the GOP response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union in 2016.

Trump picked Haley to be his U.N. ambassador, becoming the first Indian American in a presidential Cabinet.

One of her most memorable moments as U.N. ambassador came in 2018 after National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow suggested Haley had suffered “momentary confusion” when she said Russian sanctions were imminent.

“With all due respect, I don’t get confused,” she responded. The first half of the quote became the title of Haley’s 2019 memoir.

When Haley resigned from her job, it fueled speculation that she would challenge Trump in 2020 or become his running mate, replacing Pence. She did neither.

Haley joined the board of aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co., launched herself on the speaking circuit and wrote two books.

Haley initially cast doubts on Trump’s political future after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack but said she wouldn’t challenge him in 2024.

Trump said last month that Haley had sought his opinion on running for president. He said he pointed out her earlier promise not to run against him but said he did not stop her.

“She said she would never run against me because I was the greatest president, but people change their opinions, and they change what’s in their hearts,” Trump said. “So I said, if your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it.”

Source: Reuters