Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday issued a video statement in which she officially threw her hat in the ring for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, becoming the first major challenger to former President Donald Trump.
Haley, who served as Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, plans to lay out her campaign plans in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday.
Tough on China
She highlighted her foreign policy experience in the video, warning of threats to America’s pre-eminent status in the international domain.“China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied, kicked. You should know this about me: I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels,” she said.
“In China, they commit genocide,” she said, while in Iran “they murder their own people for challenging the government.”
“It puts things into perspective,” she continued. “Even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.”
Haley in May 2022 said that the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council must investigate the Chinese “genocide” of minorities, otherwise a planned visit by the U.N. Human Rights commissioner to the country would be just “one more Chinese publicity stunt.”
The Chinese regime has been accused of committing atrocities in Xinjiang.
Pushback Against Leftist Revisionism
Domestically, Haley said she'd push back against efforts by the “socialist left” to “rewrite” America’s history, presumably referring to the progressive campaign to portray the founding of the United States as steeped in racism rather than in opposition to slavery and the protection of individual liberties.Haley noted that Republicans lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections and that this “has to change.”
“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,” Haley said, outlining her policy priorities.
With the announcement, Haley has become the first direct challenger to Trump in a Republican field that is expected to grow going forward.
‘Trump Can’t Trust Her’
Her announcement was met with a critical response by Sebastian Gorka, a Trump ally and former Deputy Assistant to the president.Back in 2021, she pledged not to run against Trump.
“In order to make America great and glorious again I am tonight announcing my candidacy for President of the United States,” Trump said in a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The former president stressed that this won’t be his campaign but “our campaign,” saying that the only force “strong enough to defeat the massive corruption we are up against is you—the American people.
“Together we will be taking on the most corrupt forces and entrenched interests imaginable. Our country is in a horrible state. We’re in great trouble.”
In her video on Tuesday, Haley took aim at Biden’s policies.
“Joe Biden’s record is abysmal. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again. It’s time for a new generation of leadership,” she said.