by The race for the White House begins within the Republican Party. Less than three months after former President Donald Trump announced his 2024 candidacy, the former South Carolina governor and former US ambassador to the United Nations is the first (and won’t be the last) to follow in his footsteps. Nikki Haley, who has gone from critic to supporter of the former president, is pushing for a “generational change” in the party and, at 51, wants to be the face of that change, taking on a 76-year-old opponent. For some, the fact that she is an Indian wife and daughter may also take away arguments from Democrats and Joe Biden himself, should he run for re-election despite his 80s.
“You must know this about me. I can’t stand it bullies. And when we’re kicking, it hurts them more if we’re wearing heels,” Haley said in the three-and-a-half minute video in which she announced her nomination. “I have never lost an election and I don’t plan to start now,” he added. Today, he will speak in Charleston, South Carolina, where his campaign will be based, then travel to New Hampshire and Iowa, two key states in any race for the White House.
In the video, Haley recalled her past in a small town in South Carolina, saying she grew up “neither black nor white,” but “different.” In other cases, this daughter of Indian immigrants from Punjab — who came to the U.S. from Canada when her father went to teach at a university in South Carolina — talked about the impact racial slurs had on her life. However, he insists that the US is not a racist country.
“I think as a woman of color and the daughter of legal immigrants from India, she would give the Democratic Party no reason to exist. All their crap would go out the window,” Republican donor Eric Eric told Voice of America radio. Levine, using an expression of activism for racial, social, or gender equality that has become synonymous with liberal or leftist politics. “I think she’s a spectacular candidate,” he added.
It still exists the possibility that the race will be between two women of Indian origin if current vice president Kamala Harris (whose mother was born in Tamil Nadu) is selected as the Democratic candidate. Biden has not yet ended the impasse over whether or not to run, with polls showing a majority of Democrats against it: one from the Associated Press reported last week that only 37% want to run again .
In your video, Haley doesn’t mention Trump once, despite being targeted for gunfire, according to polls. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday gave the former president the support of 43 percent of registered Republicans polled. The former South Carolina governor did not exceed 4% has a long way to go, with Trump’s main challenger being Florida’s current governor, Ron DeSandis, at 31%. For the former president, the more candidates you have against you the better — as they end up splitting the anti-Trump vote that exists in the Republican Party.
Haley was not one of Trump’s early supporters in the 2016 Republican primary, having first supported the candidacy of Sen. Marco Rubio (of Florida) and then of Ted Cruz (of Texas). Then governor of South Carolina (a position he has held since 2011), he even said Trump was “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president” and criticized him for not condemning the Ku Klux Klan.
However, when he reached the White House, he accepted to be part of his administration, as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. She was the first North American woman of Indian origin to hold a seat on the Executive, having held it for less than two years. He left in late 2018, of his own accord, describing Trump as a “friend.” Despite admitting that the president was “not at his best” during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he refused to support complaint .
Since he left the United Nations, there has been talk that he could be moving toward a presidential run — thought as early as 2020, or that he could replace Mike Pence as vice president. In 2021, however, he said he would support Trump if he decided to run, which he didn’t think he would. The party’s poor result in last November’s midterms was therefore the boost it needed.
Haley also said two years ago that he would talk to the former president first if he decided to move forward. Something you will have accomplished. Trump recently said that when she told him she was thinking about running, he told her she had to. On her Truth Social network, however, she did not fail to criticize her: “Nikki should follow her heart, not her honor. She should definitely run!”, wrote on February 2nd.
Other possible candidates
Ron DeSantis: The 44-year-old Florida governor is seen as Donald Trump’s primary challenger, even though he has yet to advance in the race for the Republican nomination. His name gained more power after the midterm elections in November, as he was one of the big winners on a night in which Republicans fell short. Her positions on gender issues, abortion or teaching racial issues in schools have won her support.
Mike Pence: The 63-year-old former vice president is another name being discussed for the Republican nomination, having already traveled to some of the key states to promote his memoir: So help me God (in Portuguese it would be “May God help me”). The fact that he did not agree to stop the ratification of the 2020 presidential results is a negative point for many of the party’s hardliners.
Mike Pompeo: The 59-year-old former secretary of state and former CIA director will also consider running in 2024. In January, he released his memoir: Never Give An Inch – I’m fighting for the America I love (which in Portuguese would be “Never give an inch – fight for the America I love”).
Liz Cheney: The 56-year-old daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney is one of Donald Trump’s most vocal Republican critics, having backed his second attempt to complaint (for the attack on the Capitol). As a result, he lost the primary to a supporter of the former president and was unable to run for a new term in the House of Representatives for Wyoming. He will also consider a run for the White House.
susana.f.salvador@dn.pt
