Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley told a raucous Charleston crowd during her first presidential campaign event on Wednesday that it is time for the nation to “move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past.”
Haley singled out Democratic Vice President Joe Biden for attack rather than former President Donald Trump.
“Our leaders are doing poorly. Joe Biden best represents that failure, in her opinion, she stated.
But before she can take on Biden, Haley must defeat Trump, who has already announced his campaign, as well as a host of other likely Republican contenders.
The first well-known Republican to officially run against her former employer in the 2024 election is Haley, who served as the Trump administration’s ambassador to the UN. She breaks a promise she made when she enters the race.
On December 4, 2021, Haley informed reporters, “If President Trump runs, I wouldn’t.”
In a statement to VOA, Trump acknowledged Haley’s prior commitment and claimed to have advised her to “follow her heart and do what she wants,” adding, “I wish her luck.”
When Haley made her first successful run for governor in 2011, she was a little-known figure in her own state. Before entering politics, she was an accountant. She would later be elected to a second term, during which she gained national attention for her handling of a white shooter’s mass killing of Black churchgoers and for her signing of a bill that would have removed the Confederate flag from the State House grounds.
A brown girl growing up in a Black and White environment, Haley noted that it wasn’t always easy for her as a child in South Carolina. She claimed that she had consistently been underestimated in her past political contests. Haley’s parents are immigrants from India who are Punjabi Sikhs.
Haley presents herself as the party’s future face rather than a relic from the past in her first presidential campaign ad, which was released on Tuesday.
“In seven of the last eight presidential elections, Republicans came in last in the popular vote. That needs to change, asserts Haley, which she also highlighted at the rally on Wednesday.
At the campaign event, 51-year-old Haley told supporters that lawmakers over 75 should be subject to “mandated competency exams.” 81-year-old Biden. In June, Trump will turn 77.
As the U.N. ambassador, she remained steadfast in her support of President Trump, unlike certain members of the Republican Party. Therefore, I believe such aspects would be advantageous to a Republican voter considering a new candidate. The American Enterprise Institute’s John Fortier, a senior scholar, notes that she may not have the same path or appeal to Republican voters as some candidates. Haley is referred to as “a dynamic figure” by him.
Haley’s announcement of her candidature is most likely just the first by Republicans hoping to prevent Trump from winning the presidency again. Three former members of Trump’s cabinet are considering running for office: Mike Pence, his vice president; Mike Pompeo, his former secretary of state; and John Bolton, his former national security adviser.
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The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is “the huge name we’re talking about in this area as a potential alternative to Donald Trump,” says Fortier. “And I believe the reason for it is because he did portray, as a large-state governor in a state that leans Republican, many of Donald Trump’s characteristics.”
The governor is anticipated to outraise other Republican candidates because of his focus on topics related to the cultural war, much like Trump. As a result, he might draw support from party activists looking for a capable opponent for Biden, the presumed Democratic Party nominee.
Haley is more likely to be considered as a running mate (vice presidential candidate) to the ultimate party nominee if her polling numbers stay in the single digits.
Most conservative media leaders are sceptical, asking whether her candidature will succeed and whether she is a liberal cloak.
Benjamin Weingarten, a senior contributor to the Federalist, remarked on the conservative Newsmax TV station, “There’s a rule in politics that you never run for vice president.” “Considering how the field will be whittled down in the end, that’s probably the highest seat she could get.”
Conservative attorney Will Chamberlain claimed on Twitter that Haley “is a liberal in perspective and mindset.” She had to run as a Republican because of her South Carolina heritage. However, The New York Times and The Washington Post eventually shape her opinions.
Mitch McConnell, the senior Republican in the Senate, says his party will have a competitive primary process and that he is not playing favourites.
“I think it’s going to be very, very competitive in these primaries. We’ll hope for the best, and obviously I’m going to support whoever the nominee ultimately is,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
The possibility of Trump, who has been twice impeached, repeating what he did in 2016 as a political outsider with just enough support to beat out the competition and win the Republican Party nomination, could be made possible by a crowded field of candidates running against the former president and each other.
VOA
