Nikki Haley Declares Her Candidacy For The Presidency

Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and one-time governor of South Carolina, announced Tuesday that she will seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Haley served three terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives before she was elected governor in 2010, becoming the youngest governor in the country at age 38. After winning reelection, she served until 2017, when former President Donald Trump nominated her as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

“Some look at our past as evidence that America’s founding principles are bad; they say the promise of freedom is just made-up,” Haley said in a video announcement released on Twitter. “Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

She then contrasted America’s freedom with the despotic actions of authoritarian regimes across the world.

“I have seen evil; in China they commit genocide; in Iran, they murder their own people for challenging the government,” she continued. “And when a woman tells you about watching soldiers turn her baby into a fire, it puts things into perspective. Even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.”

Haley’s take-no-prisoners attitude at the UN earned her praise among conservatives. She called anti-Semitic UNESCO a “cesspool” and “among the most corrupt and politically biased UN agencies.” She fiercely defended the U.S. embargo on Cuba when the U.N. once again condemned the U.S., saying, “The United States will continue to stand with the Cuban people until their rights and their freedoms are restored. Period. We won’t back down.”

Time after time, she defended Israel against its detractors while harshly opposing the despotic Iranian regime.

In October 2019, speaking at the annual dinner of the American Enterprise Institute, Haley criticized colleagues of hers in the Trump administration “who believed that the best thing to do for America was to undermine and obstruct the president.” asserting, “The president was the choice of the people, in accordance with our founding charter. No policy disagreement with him, no matter how heartfelt, justifies undermining the lawful authority that is vested in his office by the Constitution.”

Haley then vowed to take on the woke left and defend American values.

As the screen showed President Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she asserted, “Some people look at America and see vulnerability. The socialist Left sees an opportunity to rewrite history. China and Russia are on the march; they all think we can be bullied, kicked around. 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.”

Haley is the second major candidate to announce a run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Trump launched his campaign in November 2022, while other potential candidates include Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Haley’s husband, Michael, served in Afghanistan as an officer in the South Carolina National Guard, and the couple have two children together.

Get excited! Time for a new generation.

Let’s do this! ? ?? pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023