The race for the White House is launched within the Republican Party. Less than three months after former President Donald Trump announced his candidacy for 2024, the former South Carolina governor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is the first (and won’t be the last) to follow in his footsteps. Nikki Haley, who went from critic to supporter of the former president, is calling for a “generational change” in the party and wants to be the face of that change at age 51, against an opponent aged 76. For some, the fact that she is the wife and daughter of Indians may also dispel the arguments of the Democrats and Joe Biden himself, if he continues to run for re-election despite his current 80 years.
“You should know this from me. I will not tolerate it bullies. And when we sit back, it hurts them more when we wear heels,” Haley said in the three-and-a-half minute video announcing her candidacy. “I’ve never lost an election and I don’t intend to start now,” he added. Today he will speak in Charleston, South Carolina, where his campaign will take place, and then travel to New Hampshire and Iowa, two key states in any race for the White House.
In the video, Haley recalled her past in a small South Carolina town, saying that she grew up “neither black nor white”, but “different”. On other occasions, this daughter of Indian immigrants from Punjab – who came to the US from Canada when her father started teaching at a South Carolina university – spoke about the impact racial slurs had on her life. However, he emphasizes that the US is not a racist country.
“I think as a woman of color and the daughter of legal immigrants from India, she wouldn’t give the Democratic Party a raison d’être. All their waking crap would go out the window,” Republican donor Eric Eric told Voice of America radio Levine , which uses an expression of activism for racial, social, or gender equality that has become synonymous with liberal or left-wing politics. “I think she’s a spectacular candidate,” he added.
Still exists the possibility that the race will be between two women of Indian descent, if the current Vice President, Kamala Harris (whose mother was born in Tamil Nadul), is elected as the Democrats’ candidate. Biden has yet to break the deadlock by saying whether he wants to continue or not, with polls showing the majority of Democrats are against it: one from the Associated Press last week indicated that only 37% want him to run again .
in your video, Haley doesn’t name Trump once, despite being the target to shoot at according to the polls. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday gave the former president the support of 43% of registered Republicans polled. The former governor of South Carolina got no further than 4%, has a long way to go, with Trump’s main opponent being current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 31%. For the former president the more candidates you have against you, the better – as these end up splitting the anti-Trump vote that exists within the Republican Party.
Haley was not one of Trump’s initial supporters in the 2016 Republican primary, having supported first Senator Marco Rubio (of Florida) and then Ted Cruz (of Texas). When she was governor of South Carolina (a position she’s held since 2011), she even said Trump was “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president” and criticized him for not condemning the Ku Klux Klan.
However, when he arrived at the White House, he accepted to be part of his administration, as US ambassador to the United Nations. She was the first North American woman of Indian descent to hold a position in the Executive, having served for less than two years. He left of his own free will in late 2018, describing Trump as a “friend”. Despite admitting that the president was “not at his best” during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he refused to deposition .
From the moment he left the UN, there was talk that he could move towards a presidential candidacy – it was already thought in 2020 if he could replace Mike Pence as vice president. In 2021, however, he said he would support Trump if he decided to move forward, something he believed he would not do. The poor result of the game in the midterms of November last year was therefore the push that was needed.
Haley also said two years ago that he would talk to the former president first if he decided to move on. Something you have achieved. Trump recently said that when she told him she was thinking about running, he told her to do it. On her Truth Social network, however, she did not fail to criticize her: “Nikki should follow her heart, not her honour. She should definitely run!”, wrote on Feb. 2.
Other potential candidates
Ron DeSantis: The 44-year-old governor of Florida is considered Donald Trump’s main opponent, even though he has not yet advanced to the race for the Republican nomination. His name gained momentum after the November midterm elections as he was one of the big winners of the night when Republicans fell short of what was demanded. Her stances on gender issues, abortion or teaching racial issues in schools have earned her support.
Mike Pence: The 63-year-old former vice president is among other names being talked about running for the Republican nomination, having already traveled to some of the key states to promote his memoir: So help me God (in Portuguese it would be “May God help me”). The fact that he did not accept to halt the validation of the 2020 presidential results is a negative for many of the party’s hardline.
Mike Pompeo: The 59-year-old former secretary of state and former director of the CIA is also considering running for office in 2024. In January he launched his memoir: Never give an inch – Fighting for the America I love (which in Portuguese would be “Never give an inch – fight for the America I love”).
Liz Cheney: The 56-year-old daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney is one of Donald Trump’s most critical Republicans deposition (for the attack on the Capitol). As a result, he lost the primary to a supporter of the former president and was unable to run for another term in the Wyoming House of Representatives. He is also considering running for the White House.
Source: DN
