Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced she’s running for president in 2024, becoming the first Republican to challenge former President Donald Trump for the nomination.
Despite promising in 2021 she would “not run if President Trump ran,” Haley made the announcement on a video message Tuesday.
“Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. That has to change,” Haley said in the video. “Joe Biden’s record is abysmal, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again.”
Get excited! Time for a new generation.
Let’s do this! 👊 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023
51-year-old Haley, a notorious foreign policy hawk who supported the Iraq War, has been a vehement supporter of America’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict, calling it a “war for freedom.”
Trump spokesperson and head of the MAGA Inc. super PAC Taylor Budowich slammed the former South Carolina congresswoman in a statement Tuesday as “just another career politician.”
“She started out as a Never Trumper before resigning to serve in the Trump admin. She then resigned early to go rake in money on corporate boards,” Budowich said in the statement. “Now, she’s telling us she represents a ‘new generation.’ Sure just looks like more of the same, a career politician whose only fulfilled commitment is to herself.”
Haley faces major headwinds in the GOP primary: according to a recent Monmouth University poll, she scores 1% compared to Trump’s 33%.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) are also expected to run against Trump.
