Former Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley took a swipe at former President Donald Trump as he held a rally in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday.
Haley, who is also expected to get her presidential campaign underway, tweeted on Saturday: “It’s time for a new generation to lead.”
It's time for a new generation to lead. pic.twitter.com/vDG8eWtUpC
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 28, 2023
The tweet included a clip of an interview she gave to Fox News earlier this month, where she said she would not seek the Republican Party’s nomination if Trump chose to run in 2024.
The “survival of America matters,” Haley said, adding that it is “bigger than one person.”
“And when you’re looking at the future of America, I think it’s time for new generational change. I don’t think you need to be 80 years old to go be a leader in D.C.,” she said. “I think we need a young generation to come in, step up, and really start fixing things.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Haley said that she was close to making a decision about whether to run for the White House, adding that she had made the comments about backing Trump’s 2024 candidacy “before we surrendered to Afghanistan, it was before we saw this high inflation and high crime, it was before we saw drugs infesting all of our states, it was before we saw our foreign policy in disarray, so a lot has changed.”
“And when I look at that, I look at the fact if I’m this passionate and I’m this determined, why not me?” She continued.
Political experts predict that Haley could make her 2024 presidential bid official as soon as February.
This comes after Trump formally announced last month that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” he said in front of a crowd gathered at Mar-a-Lago, where his campaign will be headquartered.
The ex-president still holds a plurality of support among Republicans. A recent NYT/Siena survey found that nearly 50 percent of GOP voters said they want Trump to run in 2024, while 25 percent named Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
