Washington: Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley launched her campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, challenging her former boss Donald Trump, who maintains a strong lead in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
“It is time for a new generation of leadership,” Haley said in a video sent by her team.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as ambassador to the United States under Trump from 2017 to 2018, is set to lay out her campaign plans in a speech Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina.
Haley, 51, the daughter of Indian immigrants, has earned a reputation in the Republican Party as a staunch conservative with an ability to address issues of gender and race in a more credible way than many of her peers.
Announcing her candidacy 20 months before the November 2024 election gives Haley a chance to grab attention before the Republican field widens in the coming weeks and months.
It also makes him an early target of a belligerent Trump.
“You should know this about me: I don’t put up with bullies. And when you back down, it only hurts them more,” Haley said in the video.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday found 4% of registered Republicans support Haley, far behind Trump at 43% and presumptive candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 31%.
Other potential candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
The day after Haley’s schedule, Scott will begin a “listening tour” in Charleston, according to a campaign advisory. It will then move through Iowa, another key early voting state.
Taylor Budovich, head of the pro-Trump group Make America Great Again, dismissed Haley’s announcement.
“Nikki Haley is just another professional politician,” he said.
South Carolina is expected to host one of the first Republican nominating primaries in 2024 and will play a key role in choosing the final candidate.
Many Republican leaders in the state are exploring their options amid concerns that Trump will be elected, according to more than a dozen party officials and strategists.
Several prominent Republicans, including Haley and Scott, skipped a Trump campaign appearance in Colombia last month that was intended to show their support in the state.