SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 8 December 2024, Sunday |

Nikki Haley takes on Donald Trump for 2024 U.S. Republican nomination

Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the UN, launched her bid for the Republican presidential nomination for 2024 on Tuesday. This will be a challenging campaign because Donald Trump, her former employer, is currently in a commanding lead in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.

In a video that her campaign team distributed through email, Nikki Haley declared that she will be running for president in 2024, joining Donald Trump as the only other candidates.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as the U.N. ambassador under Trump from 2017 to 2018, is set to lay out her campaign plans in a speech on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina.

The daughter of two Indian immigrants who ran a successful clothing store in a rural part of South Carolina, Haley, 51, has gained a reputation in the Republican Party as a solid conservative who has the ability to address issues of gender and race in a more credible fashion than many of her peers.

Launching her candidacy more than 20 months ahead of the November 2024 election gives Haley more of a chance to draw attention and raise funds before the Republican field grows in the coming weeks and months. But it also makes her an early target of the combative Trump.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday that found that 4% of registered Republicans supported Haley. Trump received support from 43% of registered Republicans in the poll conducted from Feb. 6-13, while 31% said they supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch a campaign but has not yet done so.

Other high-profile Republicans looking at a 2024 run include former Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, among others.

    Source:
  • Reuters