Nikki Haley To Formally Launch GOP Campaign For White House

An hour before Haley's performance, several hundred people gathered outside the open metal roof structure called "The Barn" next to the Charleston Visitor Center. Campaign posters and American flags lined the crowd, and loud music blared from multiple speakers.

Retired Connie Campbell said everything worked out with the former governor and said he had a lot to offer.

"She has a lot of experience in politics and as a family person, mother and wife," Campbell said.

The announcement makes Haley the first major Republican to publicly oppose Trump, but not the last. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are among those expected to launch their campaigns in the coming months. Haley's partner, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, considering running for the White House.

Now, with the presidential primary in focus, the big question is whether anyone in the field can replace Trump as the leader of the party that Trump replaced during the 2016 primary campaign. It remains popular with many voters. Although some party officials blamed the GOP's poor performance in last year's midterm elections, it had more bearing on the primaries. In the year In 2016, a crowded field could play into Trump's hands, enabling him to advance to the nomination, with his opponents splitting support from each other.

In her video message, Haley, 51, made no direct reference to the 76-year-old former president, instead saying it was time for a new generation of leaders.

Republicans are turning to new faces, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In an open-ended question asking Republicans to choose who they want to lead their party, most Republicans did not pick either Trump or DeSantis, who are seen as the former president's main challengers. But they had no clear choice.

Eleven other politicians, including Haley, were voted their favorite leader by just 1% of Republicans.

Haley can distinguish himself from the Republican field in part by highlighting his resume. In a video posted Tuesday, she talks about growing up as the daughter of racially abused Indian immigrants in a small town in South Carolina. Although Haley feels "different", she insists that the United States is not a racist country.

This argument may resonate with Republican voters, as many in the party seek to reform or change the way systemic racism is taught in schools and universities.

Haley also gave a stern message to Republicans, saying in the video that the party has lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections and that it must spur a new approach. In the year She talked about two successful runs for governor of South Carolina since her victory in 2010, becoming the state's first female governor and the nation's youngest at age 38.

And it was, at least in part, a defining moment for the governor: In 2015, nine black worshipers were photographed holding Confederate flags at a Charleston church in white supremacy.

For years, Haley has resisted calls to remove the Confederate flag from the state, even calling it a desperate tactic to remove a rival. But after the massacre, and with the support of other leading Republicans, Haley pushed for legislation to remove the flag. It collapsed less than a month after the murder.

The video shows Hayley in the church, but does not mention the work she did to take down the flag.

Felicia Sanders, a survivor of the Mother Emanuel Amy church shooting, was in attendance Wednesday. Sanders' son Tewanza was killed in the massacre.

And after the United States shot down several aerial targets in recent weeks, including a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, Haley is expected to remain at the top of foreign policy. It includes images of Trump serving as ambassador to the United Nations, and claims that "China and Russia are on the rise" and that the United States can be "bullied" and "kicked".

Hailey said: “You should know this about me. I can't stand bullies. And if you wear heels when you go through it, it hurts even more.

Haley's campaign has been on a two-year losing streak since she said she would not run for President Trump in 2024. In recent months, however, she changed her mind and cited, among other things, the country's economic woes.

"I wish them all the best," Trump said in a statement.

Trump told the New York Times, "I will never take down my boss." I wanted to do it." Associated Press "Good luck!”

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