‘It’s time for a new generation,’ Nikki sez as she enters prez race
Nikki Haley announced Tuesday that she is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, becoming the first GOP challenger to her ex-boss former President Donald Trump.
The former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor didn’t mention Trump in her 3½-minute video announcement in which she boasted of representing “time for a new generation,” and took a few potshots at President Biden.
“Republicans have lost the popular vote seven out of the last eight presidential elections,” she said. “That has to change. Joe Biden’s record is abysmal.”
Haley (photo) joins Trump as the only announced Republican candidates. He entered the race last November, but has only recently started holding campaign events.
Trump did not immediately comment on Haley’s bid, but earlier said she was welcome to join the contest.
That stance comes in sharp contrast to his preemptive attacks on presumptive rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who polls say could give Trump a run for his money.
Taylor Budowich, who leads the pro-Trump Make America Great Again PAC, denounced Haley as a “career politician” who quit Trump’s cabinet to cash in by sitting on corporate boards.
Haley is polling in the low single digits, trailing far behind Trump, DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence in early surveys of the potential GOP field.
Many political insiders believe Trump is the overwhelming favorite, but is vulnerable if DeSantis can force out the other challengers and face him in a one-on-one battle.
Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, avoided specific policy stances but touted her conservative small-town values and love for America.
“It’s time for a new generation of leadership to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our borders and strengthen our country,” she said.
Haley boasted she would stand up to dictators like China’s Xi Jinping and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin as only a hard-nosed woman can. “I don’t put up with bullies,” she said. “And when you kick back it hurts more when you’re wearing heels.”
In a gentle effort to distinguish herself from Trump, she also trumpeted her ability to reach across party and racial lines.
The video showed her holding hands with Black South Carolinians after a racist white gunman killed nine African-Americans in a Charleston church. “When evil came,” she said, “we turned away from fear, toward God,”