(FiveNation.com)- Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley officially announced her campaign for the Republican nomination this week.
In a campaign announcement video released on Tuesday, Haley, who served as former President Trump’s UN ambassador, called for a “new generation” of Republican leaders.
On Wednesday, in a speech before a packed group of supporters in Charleston, South Carolina, the 51-year-old Republican formally launched her campaign.
In her campaign speech, Haley urged the Republican Party to promote presidential candidates who can win the so-called “popular vote” in the general election, arguing that in seven of the previous eight presidential elections, the GOP was unable to “win the confidence of a majority of Americans.” She claimed that with her campaign, that was about to change.
Also speaking at Haley’s campaign launch was Cindy Warmbier, the mother of Otto Warmbier, the young man who died in 2017 after being jailed by North Korean authorities and tortured. Mrs. Warmbier credited the former UN ambassador for changing her life and said the country needs Haley to fight for every child the way she fought for her son.
Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, became the state’s first female governor.
Nikki Haley becomes the second prominent Republican to formally announce a 2024 run after former President Trump officially jumped into the race the week after the November midterm elections.
While Haley’s entry into the race received some praise, many Republicans doubt that there is a path to victory for the former Republican governor as GOP primary polling shows the 2024 race shaping into a 2-way battle between Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has yet to say if he is running.
In a column at 19FortyFive, Harry Kazianis writes that Haley’s chances of winning the Republican nomination in 2024 are non-existent.
Kazianis argues that Haley is a consultant-driven creation who would have fit in perfectly in 2008 but is out of step with the contemporary America First, populist Republican party.
