South Carolina to the White House: Nikki Haley Enters the Race
Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flikr.
On Feb. 14, Nikki Haley — former Governor of South Carolina and former United Nations Ambassador — announced her bid to run for president of the United States as the first official challenger to Donald J. Trump.
In 2010, Haley made history when she was elected as the first woman and first Asian American governor of South Carolina. From Haley’s time in office, she is often remembered as the one who signed the bill that removed the Confederate flag from state-house grounds, following the Charleston Church shooting in 2015, which killed nine black Americans.
After Haley’s second term as governor, she began to work as U.N. Ambassador under now-former President Trump. After initially opposing Trump, she began working for him. According to Politico, Haley once stated, “on his policy, I agree with everything that he’s done.” Haley later said, “I would not run if President Trump ran again.” Yet, Haley became the first Republican to declare candidacy following Trump.
Attempting to appeal to younger generations, Haley first launched her campaign video on Twitter, captioned “Get excited! Time for a new generation.” In the video, Haley stated that “Republicans have lost the popular vote in the last 7 out of 8 presidential elections,” attempting to highlight the failure of the Washington establishment and the need for a change in leadership.
In the video, Haley addresses an opposing argument that America’s freedom is a lie and the country is filled with racist and evil ideals. By highlighting her experience as U.N. Ambassador, Haley stated that she has seen real evil including genocide in China and oppression in Iran.
As governor of South Carolina, Haley stated that she fought against old establishment practices and listened when South Carolinians “demanded accountability for their tax dollars.” Following crises, Haley stated that under her leadership, her state was able to “turn away from fear and toward God”-- a direction Haley aims to push the White House towards.
During the video, Haley mentioned three specific areas she plans on highlighting, including fiscal responsibility, the U.S. border, and American values of pride and purpose.
To conclude her campaign video, Haley called Russia, China and the ‘socialist left’ bullies and embraced her femininity by declaring, “I don’t put up with bullies and when you kick back it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels.”
One poll, conducted by Ipsos, places President Biden at 37% of the vote and Haley at 28%, nine points short of Biden, if she were to win the Republican nomination.