The former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley has announced her candidacy for president, becoming the first Republican to challenge former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP primary nomination.
Haley delivered the news in a three-and-a-half minute Twitter video released on Tuesday morning.
The 51-year-old previously served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration. Although she previously said she would not challenge Trump for the White House in 2024, Haley changed her mind, citing the country’s economic troubles and need for “generational change.”
Get excited! Time for a new generation.
Let’s do this! 👊 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023
“The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again,” she says in the video. “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.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump shared his support for Haley’s decision and wished her luck.
“Even though Nikki Haley said, ‘I would never run against my President, he was a great President, the best President in my lifetime,’ I told her she should follow her heart and do what she wants to do. I wish her luck!” Trump said.
If Haley wins in the primary, she would become the first woman and the first Asian American nominated by the Republican Party for president.
Haley was born to Indian immigrants Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa.
Her family moved to South Carolina when her father took a teaching job at a historically Black college. Although she was raised in the Sikh faith, Haley converted to Christianity after she married Michael Haley in 1996.
Haley worked for her family’s dress boutique as a bookkeeper before her political career began in 2004 after she was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives.
She was first elected…
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