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Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is challenging her one-time boss for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to a video she released on Tuesday.
“I’m Nikki Haley and I’m running for president,” Donald Trump’s former United Nations ambassador said in the video.
The 51-year-old’s run – which was widely expected – breaks a promise she made two years ago to not challenge the ex-Republican president for the Oval Office. But she had indicated recently that she would go back on her word, arguing that the country’s economy was too distressed for her to stand by and that it needed a new generation of leaders – Democratic incumbent Joe Biden is 80 and Trump is 76.
As of Tuesday morning, no other major Republican candidate beside Trump and Haley had announced bids aiming to unseat Biden, who has said he intends to seek a second four-year term.
Other Republicans who are expected to eventually join the fray include Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pompeo, ex-secretary of state, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
Haley is vying to become the first woman elected as US president after a poll published last week found that her entry into a 2024 Repubican primary would be enough to keep Trump ahead of his only current close rival: DeSantis.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll found DeSantis had a 45%-41% lead over Trump one-on-one. But with Haley entering the field, the poll cast her in the role of spoiler, finding that she drew 11%, DeSantis’s support sagged to 35%, and Trump would come out on top 38%.
Haley also hopes to become the first US president of Indian descent. Her parents were Indian immigrants – and throughout her career, she has described weathering racist remarks about her upbringing while explaining how they have shaped her personal and political outlooks.
She worked as an accountant before she successfully ran against the longest-serving member of South Carolina’s state house of representatives in 2004. Haley spent three years in that role before running for governor of South Carolina.
Endorsements from the outgoing incumbent at the time, Mark Sanford, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin – then a darling of the far right – helped her become the first woman and minority to win the office of South Carolina governor.
Then 38, she was also the youngest person in the US to become governor.
Haley’s ascent at the time landed her opportunities to speak at the 2012 Republican National Convention, and she was the GOP’s pick to respond to Barack Obama’s 2016 State of the Union speech.
She was ambassador to the UN after Trump won the presidency in 2016, but she resigned in 2018.
Before Tuesday’s video announcement, Haley was expected to declare her 2024 presidential candidacy on Wednesday in Charleston. She’s scheduled to soon head to New Hampshire, which has an early slot on the primary calendar.
The Yahoo/YouGov poll which predicted Haley would be a spoiler in a Trump v DeSantis match-up – to the latter’s detriment – did find that she attracted much more support than other potential Republican presidential candidates for 2024, including Pence, Pompeo and the former Maryland governor Larry Hogan.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
English (US)