Nikki Haley announces 2024 presidential bid in first major GOP challenge to Donald Trump
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley launched the presidential bid she has teased for weeks, tweeting out a video Tuesday saying that, yes, she is indeed running for president.
Haley expected to announce GOP presidential bid
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“I’m Nikki Haley and I’m running for president,” the former South Carolina governor said in the video her campaign put out a day before her scheduled announcement speech in Charleston, S.C.
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.N. ambassador, uses the video to sketch out her biography and attack President Joe Biden and the Democrats – but she says nothing about former President Donald Trump, at least not explicitly.
At the end of the video, Haley sends a potential message to the volatile Trump by asserting she will fight back against “bullies;” she also references the fact she will likely be the only woman in the Republican presidential field.
“You should know this about me, I don’t put up with bullies,” Haley said. “And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels.”
Nikki Haley, other 2024 Republican candidates to challenge Trump
In the weeks since Haley’s plans became public, Trump and his allies have stressed that she once said she would not seek the presidency if Trump did.
Haley’s declaration makes her the first major Republican candidate to challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination. She is also the first member of his cabinet to seek the presidency, having served as his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Other prominent Republicans are also considering presidential runs, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a rival of Haley’s during the Trump presidency.
Haley’s video and the Charleston speech also comes as fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott mulls a possible presidential announcement.
Haley though, has repeatedly bragged that she has “never lost a race.”
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley was originally born Nimrata Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina.
Nikki Haley visits “Hannity” at FOX Studios on Jan. 20, 2023 in New York City.
Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker (2nd L), his wife Julie Blanchard (L) and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley (R) throw T-shirts to supporters during a campaign rally on Dec. 5, 2022 in Kennesaw, Ga.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) takes the stage after being introduced by former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley during a campaign rally at the Waukesha County Expo the day before Election Day on Nov. 7, 2022 in Waukesha, Wisc.
Nikki Haley speaks during a get out the vote rally with Republican Senatorial candidate for Pennsylvania Mehmet Oz, ahead of the US midterm elections, in Pennsburg, Penn., on Nov. 7, 2022.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a Don Bolduc campaign event on Nov. 6, 2022 in Salem, N.H.. Bolduc ran for U.S. Senate against incumbent Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, left, cheers alongside U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace during a campaign rally ahead of South Carolina’s GOP primary elections, Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Summerville, S.C.
Former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during the Iowa Republican Party’s Lincoln Dinner, on June 24, 2021, in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Former Gov. and ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley of South Carolina speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 24, 2020.
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during a security council meeting about the escalating tensions between the Ukraine and Russia at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018.
President Trump shakes hands with Nikki Haley, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations in the Oval office of the White House on Oct. 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. Nikki Haley resigned as the US ambassador to the United Nations, in the latest departure from President Donald Trump’s national security team. Meeting Haley in the Oval Office, Trump said that Haley had done a “fantastic job” and would leave at the end of the year.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addresses the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters on Sept. 17, 2018. President Donald Trump accepted the resignation of UN Ambassador Nikki Haley on Oct. 9, 2018, an unexpected departure for one of the president’s longest-serving top aides.
Nikki Haley speaks to Venezuelan demonstrastors using a loud speaker as they protest embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 27, 2018.
President Donald Trump speaks with Nikki Haley while chairing a United Nations Security Council meeting on Sept. 26, 2018 in New York City.
Nikki Haley talks with President Trump during a United Nations Security Council briefing on counterproliferation at the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 26, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters.
Nikki Haley speaks to the media ahead of the start of next weeks General Assembly meeting at the United Nations on Sept. 20, 2018 in New York City.
Nikki Haley speaks with Venezuelan migrants in a shelter in Cucuta, Colombia, near the border with Venezuela, on Aug. 8, 2018. Haley visited the Colombian border with Venezuela and spoke with Venezuelan migrants to get first hand knowledge of how the Venezuelan social and economic crisis affects the region.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley exits a United Nations Security Council meeting at UN Headquarters, July 24, 2018 in New York City.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley walk at UN headquarters in New York on July 20, 2018.
President Trump, joined by from left, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, United Kingdom Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Allen, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, and, Bolivian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Pedro Luis Inchauste Jordán, speaks during a lunch with the United Nations Security Council in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Jan. 29, 2018.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley talks with Chinese deputy ambassador Wu Haitao, Dec. 22, 2017, at United Nations headquarters.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley holds up photos of victims of the Syrian chemical attack during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters, April 5, 2017 in New York City.
Nikki Haley, nominee for U.N. Ambassador, during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 18, 2017.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley addresses the crowd during a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio at Clemson University Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 in Clemson, S.C..
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, greets students at Leslie Stover Middle School in Elgin, S.C. on Nov. 1, 2013.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is photographed along a walking trail, in Bamberg, S.C. on March 16, 2012, which during her childhood were train tracks that divided the white and black areas of the small town. In her new book “Can’t Is Not an Option: My American Story,” Haley talks about growing up in the small South Carolina town, where her family were the only Indian Americans.
Nikki Haley waves with her family in Columbia, S.C. during an election night gathering on June 8, 2010. Haley brushed aside unproven accusations of extramarital affairs to win a spot in a runoff Tuesday for the GOP nomination for governor, nearly winning the nomination outright in a bid to become the first woman to hold the office.
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The governor and the Confederate flag
Haley became South Carolina’s first female and Asian American governor when she was elected in 2010; she and won reelection in 2014. Before that she spent six years in the South Carolina Legislature.
One of her most notable acts as governor came in 2015 when Haley signed a bill ordering the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds following the killing of nine Black worshipers at the Emanuel AME Church by a white supremacist.
The Confederate flag has long been considered a sign of slavery.
“It’s time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds,” Haley said during a June 22 news conference.
Another act that Haley made with long term implications: She appointed Tim Scott to replace retiring Senator Jim DeMint in 2012.
In 2016, she gave the Republican response to former President Barack Obama’s State of the Union. One topic she made sure to discuss: immigration.
“We must fix our broken immigration system. That means stopping illegal immigration,” said Haley. “And it means welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of their race or religion. Just like we have for centuries.”
That same year, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people. Fellow S.C. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote a description on Haley for the magazine.
In 2017, Haley served as Trump’s U.N. ambassador; in 2018 she unexpectedly stepped down amid disputes with other administration members.
During her tenure, Haley announced sanctions against Russia – a move that rankled White House aides. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow suggested Haley had “momentary confusion” over the Trump administration’s actions.
“With all due respect, I don’t get confused,” Haley replied.
In June 2018 Haley announced the U.S. was pulling out of the UN Human Rights Council. “I want to make it crystal clear that this step is not a retreat from our human rights commitments,” Haley said.
Why is she running?
She previously said she wouldn’t run for president if Trump decided to run. In 2020, Haley told USA TODAY it was too early to make a decision on running for the White House.
In gearing up for her presidential run, the 51-year-old Haley has stressed her relative youth in contrast to the 80-year-old Biden and the 76-year-old Trump, and called for a “new generation” of political leadership.
In posting her announcement video, Haley tweeted: “Get excited! Time for a new generation. Let’s do this!”
What does Nikki Haley stand for?
Haley is a pro-life Republican and a supporter of Israel. She supports cracking down on illegal immigration. Haley did not support legislation in South Carolina that would have required transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender assigned at birth.
While Haley has supported Trump in the past, she has also criticized Trump, including after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Haley once said she would not support Trump’s ban on Muslim immigration. Yet she supported Trump when he blocked people from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. “It’s not a Muslim ban,” Haley said at the time.