Nikki Haley Wik – Nikki Haley Biography
Nikki Haley, a former United Nations ambassador and governor of South Carolina, plans to announce that she will run for president, positioning herself as the first outspoken Republican challenger to Donald Trump at a time when other potential candidates have slowed her moves. Haley could release a video outlining her decision as early as this week, a strategy, as described by several people briefed on the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, with the intention of boosting attendance and excitement for an in-person announcement event in the coming weeks.
Haley plans to officially announce her candidacy in Charleston on February 15, according to a person briefed on the plans, a date first reported by the Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina. Some political advisers have moved to the Charleston area for the campaign. . Haley’s decision to lean into the race contradicts the more cautious strategy adopted by most other potential candidates, who have decided there is no need to speed up their preparations.
Nikki Haley Age
Nikki Haley is 51 years old.
Incident Detail
Aides to these Republicans, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said they are wary of becoming an early target of former President Trump. Some of the aides also expressed the hope that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made preliminary moves toward a run, faces early scrutiny because of his high national polling, scrutiny that could benefit them.
They added that there is a general feeling in their circles that there is enough time to learn more about how the race will unfold and still attract donors, get on the ballot and build the campaign infrastructure. “There is no benefit to being there early,” said David Urban, a former Trump adviser who is friends with several potential 2024 candidates.
“You don’t want to be in the ring getting beaten by the former president one-on-one. There’s no reason anyone has to go in right now. There is no urgency for anyone. Everyone is sitting and waiting.”Much of the consequential action in the race thus far has taken place in private conversations and strategy sessions rather than early state storms, such as the methodical grooming of former Vice President Mike Pence’s aides and the behind-the-scenes moves of aides to DeSantis to identify potential staff and plan trips.
Even Trump has moved slowly after the anticipated announcement from him. The former president went live last weekend for the first time since launching his campaign in November, promising a campaign “about the future” and “on issues” even as he returned to some old grievances, falsely telling Republicans in New Hampshire that he “won two general elections”, a reference to his claims of victory in 2020.
Some Republican leaders have urged the party to press on and see the former president as politically weakened after disappointing midterm elections in which candidates backed by Trump lost key races. There are also the Republicans who hold out hope that Trump will simply lose interest in running; they point out that he has not filed a personal financial disclosure report, requesting two extensions.
But others see Trump as the most likely Republican nominee, pointing to the proven support base he has built within the party that others have yet to match. Speaking in New Hampshire and then South Carolina on Saturday, the former president, appearing at smaller-scale events than he has often held in past campaigns, promised a return “soon” to the big rallies for which he is known, insisting: ” I’m angrier now, and I’m more committed now than ever.”
“I don’t see right now how he loses in the primary,” Urban said of Trump. The former president on Tuesday officially won the support of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who praised his foreign policy in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, writing that “Trump’s presidency marked the first real disruption to a failed consensus and the terrible consequences it wrought.”
Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador under Trump, said in 2021 that she wouldn’t run for president if Trump did. But she later changed course and during the past few months has been teasing campaign plans. In a recent interview with Fox News, Haley indicated she was moving quickly toward a decision and said there’s a need for “new leadership.”
And can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader,” she said. If she won the GOP nomination, Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, would be the first woman and the first Asian American to lead the party’s ticket. Trump told reporters that he told Haley in a recent phone call to “go by your heart, if you want to run.” A person close to the Trump campaign, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk more freely, suggested that Haley’s early moves were an effort to make a mark before Sen.
Tim Scott (S.C.), another potential candidate, gets in the race. “I guess the audition for Trump’s VP starts now,” the person said. Representatives for Haley and Scott declined to comment on their plans. Unlike the 2016 race, which began as a free-for-all, the 2024 nomination fight has two contenders who start with clear polling advantages: Trump and DeSantis.
Several governors who could enter the race, including DeSantis, Texas’s Greg Abbott, Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu and South Dakota’s Kristi L. Noem, have legislative sessions early in the year that could push back their decisions until the spring or early summer.Pence is not expected to announce until at least this spring, an adviser said, and his team has been working behind the scenes to line up endorsements, meeting with activists in states such as South Carolina and Iowa.
The adviser said he is in no hurry to jump into the race and is fine with others being in first. “I think that everyone is waiting to see how the Trump campaign materializes,” said Fred Zeidman, a major GOP donor from Texas. “Because he’s obviously the 800-pound elephant in the room.” One person advising a would-be candidate said concern about Trump’s dominance has been driving discussions with candidates and donors, who want to know how rivals plan to get around Trump.
Others expressed hope that Trump will find himself in a nasty fight this spring with DeSantis that politically wounds them both.“Everyone is getting ready in case Trump falters,” this person said. “But if he doesn’t, you have people making different decisions.” Potential candidates can wait only so long — the first Republican presidential debate is expected to take place in July or August alongside a meeting of the Republican National Committee.
The national party is considering a requirement that candidates demonstrate grass-roots fundraising strength to qualify for the debate stage, a strategy Democrats employed in 2020 to increase their donor pool. Despite the collective hesitance to officially jump in, possible contenders are well into laying the groundwork for national campaigns.
Pence and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo have been traveling on book tours, and DeSantis is set to release his memoir on Feb. 28, paving the way for the kind of out-of-state trips that he took ahead of the midterms.DeSantis is expected to travel, including to Dallas for a major speech and fundraiser, as he explores a bid in the upcoming months, a person familiar with the matter said.
His team is actively preparing for 2024 and has identified potential staff in early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, a Republican with knowledge said. Dave Abrams, a DeSantis spokesman, declined to comment. One question that looms over the jockeying is where wealthy Republican donors will decide to put their money. Some major donors who were with Trump in 2020 have not yet committed to his reelection, even after entreaties from Trump advisers.
As one adviser to a major GOP donor put it, “I don’t think anybody in our world has picked a horse yet.” Scott has a political action committee that has received millions of dollars in backing from Oracle founder Larry Ellison. The senator from South Carolina is eyeing a run but is in no hurry to make a decision, said a person with knowledge of his thinking.
This person said Scott, the only Black senator in the GOP, is considering what lanes exist outside the Trump and DeSantis lanes in the party — and whether there is a place for a “positive, more traditional candidate.”Scott will make another trip to Iowa in late February as the special guest at the Polk County GOP’s Lincoln Dinner, according to an announcement from the organization.
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