(Columbia) Nikki Haley is getting closer to formalizing her presidential campaign.
On Wednesday, supporters of the former South Carolina governor will receive an email invitation to a Feb. 15 launch event in Charleston, where she plans to announce her campaign, according to a person familiar with the plans, but not allowed to talk about it publicly.
The news of M’s plansme Haley was first reported by The Post and Courier of Charleston.
Nikki Haley, 51, served as governor of South Carolina for six years before serving as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. When she enters the race, Mme Haley will be the first candidate to join the fight against her former boss, who is currently the only Republican seeking nomination for the 2024 election.
Mr Trump was in South Carolina on Saturday for the initial U-turn in his 2024 campaign, alongside Governor Henry McMaster – who served as Lieutenant Governor of Mme Haley — and several Republican Party members on his leadership team in that early-voting state.
During the Trump administration, Mr.me Haley has occasionally argued with other White House officials while bolstering her own public persona. Her departure in 2018 fueled speculation that she would challenge Mr Trump in 2020 or replace Vice President Mike Pence, but Mme Haley did neither.
Instead, M.me Haley returned to South Carolina, where she bought a house on Kiawah Island, joined the board of directors of aircraft manufacturer Boeing and threw herself into conferences, imposing fees of up to $200,000. She has written two books, a common step taken by many on the road to the White House.
After the siege of the Capitol on January 6, Mme Haley initially expressed doubts about Mr Trump’s political future, but announced she would not challenge him in 2024.
In 2021, Mr.me Haley told The Associated Press that she ‘wouldn’t run if President Trump showed up’, but she has since changed course, stepping up her activities through her political and nonprofit action committee. Stand for America and supporting dozens of candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.
Late last year, during a visit to his alma mater, Mr.me Haley told an audience at Clemson University that she would “take the holidays” to consider a race.
When recently asked why she is now considering a run despite her 2021 comments, Mme Haley told Fox News that “a lot has changed,” referring to, among other things, America’s economic problems.
She went on to say she felt she could be part of a “new generational shift”, an indirect reference to Mr Trump’s advanced age.
On Saturday in South Carolina, Mr. Trump told WIS-TV that Mr.me Haley had called him several days earlier to ask his opinion. Mr Trump pointed to his earlier promise not to run against him, but said he had made no attempt to stop him.
“She said she would never run against me because I was the greatest president, but people change their minds and they change what’s in their hearts,” Trump said. So I said, if your heart wants to do it, you have to go. »