Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley formally kicked off her Republican presidential campaign in a speech in her home state, becoming the party’s first challenger to Donald Trump and facing a steep climb on fundraising and voter appeal.
(Bloomberg) — Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley formally kicked off her Republican presidential campaign in a speech in her home state, becoming the party’s first challenger to Donald Trump and facing a steep climb on fundraising and voter appeal.
Standing in front of a large “Nikki Haley for President” banner, Haley offered herself as a younger leader who will help the country “move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past,” after several disappointing election cycles with Trump as the GOP standard bearer.
“If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win — not just as a party, but as a country — stand with me,” Haley told supporters.
The former UN ambassador, 51, became the first Republican to challenge Trump when she announced her candidacy and filed paperwork to run on Tuesday. Other likely candidates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who leads Trump in some early polling, are also expected to enter the race and are ramping up their shadow campaigns.
On Wednesday, Haley criticized Biden and his policies repeatedly but only mentioned Trump by name for selecting her as ambassador to the UN. She called for term limits for members of Congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75.
Haley leaned into her foreign policy experience, vowing to back US allies from Israel to Ukraine and to stand up to enemies in Iran and Russia, saying it’s time to send “a tough-as-nails woman to the White House.”
Haley gets an advantage by being first out of the gate against Trump — even if it means getting attacked by the former president — because it will bring additional media attention, said Bob Vander Plaats, a prominent Iowa evangelical and a national co-chairman for Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s campaign quickly took aim at Haley, releasing a collection of previous statements and highlighting her 2021 pledge not to run if Trump did.
The former president is counting on a large field to split the vote and allow him to win primaries with a mere plurality as he did in 2016. He may get one.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to appear on Wednesday in Minnesota and Iowa to launch a campaign by his Advancing American Freedom organization about “defending parents’ rights and combating the Radical Left’s indoctrination of children.”
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson is also visiting Iowa on Wednesday.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a potential 2024 presidential or vice-presidential candidate, has three events planned in Washington, this week — including a speech Wednesday on national security and China at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank staffed with officials from Trump’s administration.
And Haley could be on a collision course with fellow South Carolinian Tim Scott. The Republican US senator has been laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign and is speaking at a county GOP dinner in Charleston on Thursday to commemorate Black History Month and a Feb. 22 event in Iowa to discuss “the importance of faith in America.”
Other potential candidates include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; former governors Larry Hogan of Maryland and Chris Christie of New Jersey; and governors Chris Sununu of New Hampshire and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.
Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was the youngest and first minority female governor in the country when she was elected in South Carolina in 2010. She was reelected with 56% of the vote in 2014 and tapped by Trump to serve as ambassador to the UN before resigning in 2018.
Haley has said conditions call for new leadership with 80-year-old President Joe Biden expected to seek a second term and the 76-year-old Trump trying to return the White House after losing a reelection bid in 2020.
Notable South Carolina elected officials including US Senator Lindsey Graham and Governor Henry McMaster have endorsed Trump, but others have held off with Haley running and Scott considering the race.
US Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, whom Trump endorsed for reelection last year, helped introduce Haley before her speech and said the while Trump was exactly what the GOP and US needed in 2016, Haley offers a “new fresh vision” that can defeat Democrats.
(Updates with details from speech starting 5th paragraph.)
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