Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (Nimrata Nikki Haley Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) officially launched her presidential bid, casting herself as a younger and fresher alternative to the 20th century politicians like her one-time boss and former president Donald Trump, saying a new era of Republican leadership has begun.
Haley, who rolled out a video announcing her campaign, spoke in Charleston next day, casting herself as a new chapter in American politics in an apparent dig both at President Joe Biden and Trump.
“We’re ready, ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past, and we are more than ready for a new generation to lead us into the future,” she said. “I come here today with a vision of that future.”
Addressing her enthusiastic supporters at a well-attended event here in South Carolina, she said: “I stand before you as the daughter of immigrants, as the proud wife of a combat veteran and as the mom of two amazing children. I’ve served as governor of the great state of South Carolina and as America’s ambassador to the United Nations. And above all else, I’m a grateful American citizen who knows our best days are yet to come if we unite and fight to save our country.”
“I have devoted my life to this fight, and I’m just getting started,” she continued. “For a strong America, for a proud America, I am running for president of the United States of America.”
Haley also addressed what she decried as a lack of patriotism sweeping the country, warning that ideas about Americans battles with racism and other issues could weaken the U.S. at home and abroad.
“On Biden and Harris’ watch, a self-loathing has swept our country. It’s in the classroom, the boardroom and the backrooms of government. Every day, we’re told America is flawed, rotten and full of hate. Joe and Kamala even say America is racist. Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. “This self-loathing is a virus more dangerous than any pandemic. Its system of a lack of pride in our country and a lack of trust in our leaders and ignores the values that have sustained America since our founding.”
“Strengthening America, believing once again in America, is the only way to defend ourselves from those who want to destroy us. When America is distracted, the world is less safe, and today our enemies think the American era has passed. They’re wrong. America is not past our prime, it’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” she added to applause.
Haley’s message of elevating a younger, more diverse generation took center stage in her speech.
At 51, Haley offers a fresh face to any voters worried over a potential rematch between Biden, 80, and Trump, 76. Emphasizing her point, she proposed having “mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”
And Haley also highlighted her background as the daughter of two Indian immigrants while hinting at the historic nature her potential presidency.
“It will require doing some things we’ve never done,” she said of fixing the country’s ailments as she sees them, “like sending a tough-as-nails woman to the White House.”
However, Haley faces a tough road ahead, running in what is anticipated to be a crowded primary field against one of the most brutal political knife fighters of the modern GOP in Trump.
