Former South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley announced in a video in February that she was running for president in 2024, becoming at that moment the first major rival to challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.
“The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again. It’s time for a new generation of leadership to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose,” Haley said in the video.
Haley served as US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump. The former president, who announced his bid last year, appeared to bless her entrance into the race, telling reporters that she had called to tell him she was considering a campaign launch and that he had said, “You should do it.”
Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, opened the video talking about how she felt “different” growing up in Bamberg, South Carolina.
“The railroad tracks divided the town by race. I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not Black, not White. I was different. But my mom would always say your job is not to focus on the differences but the similarities. And my parents reminded me and my siblings every day how blessed we were to live in America,” Haley said.
If successful in the primary, Haley would be the first woman and the first Asian American nominated by the Republican Party for president.
During her video announcement, Haley discussed her work as the twice-elected governor of South Carolina and leaned into her foreign policy experience, referencing her time as UN ambassador, saying she has “seen evil.”
“Some look at our past as evidence that America’s founding principles are bad. They say the promise of freedom is just made up. Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Haley said. “I have seen evil. In China, they commit genocide. In Iran, they murder their own people for challenging the government. And when a woman tells you about watching soldiers throw her baby into a fire, it puts things into perspective. Even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.”
Read more about her campaign launch here.
