Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley announced her campaign for president in the 2024 election (Pictures: AP / Nikki Haley)
A former Trump ally and administration member has announced her candidacy for president, challenging the former president currently seeking a second nomination.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, announced her 2024 presidential campaign in a video posted on Tuesday morning.
During the Trump administration, Haley served for two years as the US ambassador to the United Nations. After his loss in the 2020 presidential election, Haley previously said she would not challenge her former boss if he chose to run in 2024.
Haley became the first former Trump administration official to run against him. Many former Trump allies are expected to announce challenges to him in the coming months, including his Vice President Mike Pence and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Additionally, former National Security Advisor John Bolton has already declared his intent to run for the nomination in 2024. He has yet to formally announce his campaign.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another politician formerly aligned with Trump, is also expected to announce his campaign for the Republican nomination.
In her announcement video, Haley embraced both her small town roots in Bamberg, South Carolina and her identity as the first-generation daughter of immigrants from India.
‘My mom would always say your job is not to focus on the differences, but the similarities. And my parents reminded me every day how blessed we were to live in America.’
President Donald Trump speaks with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley before a meeting during the United Nations General Assembly (Picture: AP)
Haley was first elected to South Carolina House of Representatives, and since then has emphasized her electoral success.
‘I’ve never lost an election, and I’m not going to start now,’ she said.
In 2010, she won a narrow victory to become South Carolina’s first female and non-white governor in history. She was also at the time the nation’s youngest governor, and quickly became known as a rising star in her party.
Her campaign announcement touts her success in bringing business and industry to the Cornetto State, but one of the defining moments of her governorship occurred in 2015 when a gunman entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic black church in Charleston, to shoot and kill nine congregants at a bible study class.
Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during a news briefing at the White House, in Washington, September 15, 2017 (Picture: AP)
The shooter, a 21-year-old white man named Dylann Roof, explicitly stated that he was inspired by white supremacist ideology and posed in pictures with the Confederate battle flag.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Haley faced protests about the flag, which still flew outside the South Carolina State House in Charleston.
Haley eventually acquiesced to the protesters and called for the flag’s removal five days later. In the following month, she signed legislation permanently taking it down from the state capitol.
The announcement mentions the tragedy, but does not mention the debate surrounding the flag.
In 2016, Haley initially endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio, then Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the primaries.
After his victory in the general election, Trump nominated Haley to the position of UN ambassador. She was confirmed by the Senate and stayed in the role until December 31, 2018, often feuding with other cabinet members.
After rumor spread that Haley was looking to launch a presidential campaign in January, Trump was uncharacteristically cordial towards his former ally.
‘She said she would never run against me because I was the greatest president, but people change their opinions, and they change what’s in their hearts’ he said. ‘So I said, if your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it.’
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Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, announced her 2024 presidential campaign in a video posted on Tuesday morning.
