Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is expected to say that not enough Americans feel proud of their country and that it’s time for a new generation of leadership when she makes her opening pitch for the Republican nomination for president Wednesday, according to a person familiar with her thinking.
The former twice-elected governor of South Carolina, who turned 51 last month, launched her 2024 campaign Tuesday in a video and will appear at an event in Charleston Wednesday, before traveling to the early-voting states of New Hampshire and Iowa in the following days. Her announcement could provide a jolt to what has so far been a slow-moving Republican primary campaign season, with many potential candidates hesitant to be the first to follow former President Donald Trump into the race. Trump launched his third bid for the White House in November.
In her announcement speech, Haley will “lean into that idea that America is not racist, and we should be proud of who we are as Americans. Generations are being taught to hate America. We need to renew our American pride and stop apologizing for our founding values,” said the person familiar with Haley’s thinking, who requested anonymity to discuss the campaign.
Asked how Haley planned to approach Trump as a GOP rival, the person said, “She’s running against Joe Biden.”
If successful in the primary, Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, would be the first woman and the first Asian American nominated by the Republican Party for president. Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina. A former president of the National Association of Women Business Owners, she was first elected to the South Carolina House in 2004. Six years later, she became the first woman elected as governor of the state and was the youngest governor in the nation when she took office in 2011. She resigned in…
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