Exclusive – Nikki Haley on 2024 Campaign: Voters ‘Want Something Different’
CHARLESTON, South Carolina. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told Breitbart News exclusively here after launching her campaign on Wednesday that she welcomes a packed field in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
“I entered because it doesn’t matter who else enters. I’m not going to wait because I know my mission,” Hailey said in an interview conducted during her campaign phase following her acceptance speech and event. “My mission is to make sure that we defeat this socialism and get rid of the defeatism that we see in this country.”
Haley presents himself to voters as “something different” from the politicians they’re used to seeing, rather than the same candidates as in the last election with current Democratic President Joe Biden or former GOP President Donald Trump. In this interview, Hayley also made it clear that she never actually served in Washington; she was at the South Carolina statehouse, served as governor of South Carolina, and then went on to represent the Trump administration as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, holding that position in New York.
In this file photo taken September 24, 2018, President Donald Trump speaks with Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, at the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File).
Haley is the second major GOP candidate to run in the 2024 presidential primary – former President Donald Trump is the first, and many more candidates are expected to possibly take over in the coming weeks and months. They range from anti-revivalist businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Dakota Gov. Christy Noem, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, and Senator Tim Scott (Republican). SC) and much more.
Earlier in 2021, Haley said she would not run in 2024 if Trump ran. Asked what has changed between then and now (she is obviously running, even though Trump is also running), she pointed to the growing problems due to the Biden administration and what she called a “terrible interim” for the Republicans.
“It was at the beginning of the Biden administration. We have since witnessed surrender in Afghanistan,” Haley said when asked by Breitbart News what has changed between when she said she would not run against Trump and now. “We have seen inflation skyrocket. We saw open borders like we’ve never seen before, and we had a terrible midterm. So, it’s time. I agree with President Trump on a lot of what we’ve done in the administration, and I’m proud to be there. But it’s time to leave the past in the past, leave the status quo and start looking towards a new generation and a new type of leadership.”
Republicans won a majority in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections, but only four seats. This resulted in a difficult speaker election for current speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had to fight through 15 ballots before ultimately winning the gavel. In the midterm elections, the Republicans failed in their bid to reclaim the U.S. Senate, eventually losing one clean seat to the loss of Pennsylvania and failing to take advantage of any of the pickup opportunities on the map. And in gubernatorial races across the country, the Republicans have suffered several disappointments in places like Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and others, all while passing only the Nevada governor’s mansion from the hands of the Democrats to the hands of the Republican Party.
Haley has also presented herself to GOP voters as someone who can win the general election but still has some of the fire and brimstone that many in the base look for in a candidate. Asked where she sees her path to victory, first in the primary and then in the general election, Hailey told Breitbart News that it was “what you saw here” in her speech and in the crowd of thousands who gathered to see her take off.
“Go out, connect with people, work with them and talk to them about what they want to talk about,” Hayley said. “They want to say that the economy is not working, the government continues to grow, and wages continue to fall. Inflation is high, education, people are so worried about their children. We look at the border; these are completely open borders. We look at insecurity and we look at international issues. They want something else. More importantly, they understand the fact that we need a new generation – someone from Washington. I’m an outsider from Washington, a person who has never been there, and we need an outsider from Washington to come in there and clean everything up.”
Haley also stated in her campaign launch video and speech here that she could win the popular vote for the Republican Party in 2024. When asked why, Hailey told Breitbart News that she talks about things that excite and interest people.
“You have to have a candidate who likes more people and can win the general election,” Hailey said. “When you talk about things that people care about, Joe Biden has been around for 50 years. He doesn’t interact with the public at all. I have a daughter who is getting married and I am worried about how they will be able to afford a house. I have a son who is studying and I am watching what is happening with the revival in the classrooms. Every day I see people struggling with their grocery bills. At some point, we have to realize that the American people deserve better – they deserve better – and the only way to return to greatness is to get rid of all the old politicians who have been there for too long. ”
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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.
