Former Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is reportedly announcing her candidacy for president at an event in Charleston on Feb. 15.
According to South Carolina paper The Post & Courier, Haley will formally announce she is running for president and will seek the Republican nomination for her party’s 2024 ticket, making her the first one to challenge former President Donald Trump, who formally announced his candidacy last November.
She's running. @NikkiHaley will announce campaign for president on Feb. 15 in Charleston, SC, according to a person familiar with the plans.
— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) February 1, 2023
Supporters to receive email invite tomorrow. https://t.co/EdpMiGUbAR
An invitation sent to Haley’s backers revealed that a “special announcement” from her will come on Feb. 15 at The Shed at the Charleston Visitor Center in downtown Charleston, an open air but covered gathering spot that could draw hundreds of supporters into the heart of the city’s tourism district.
Trump, meanwhile, said that Haley had called him a few days ago to seek his opinion. He pointed out her earlier pledge not to run against him but said he made no attempts to stop her.
“She said she would never run against me because I was the greatest president, but people change their opinions, and they change what’s in their hearts,” Trump told WIS-TV on Saturday. “So I said, if your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it.”
Haley has long been speculated to run against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. On Saturday, she tweeted, “It’s time for a new generation to lead,” hinting at her presidential campaign.
During an interview with Fox News earlier this month, Haley said she would not seek the Republican Party’s nomination if Trump chose to run in 2024.
“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.”
The former U.N. ambassador also 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.”
