Nikki Haley Set to Announce Presidential Bid, But First She Called Trump - He Had 4 Words
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to announce her 2024 presidential candidacy soon, according to reports.
"Cementing what has been in the works for months ... Haley will formally announce she is running for president and will seek the Republican nomination for her party’s 2024 ticket, " Charleston's Post and Courier reported.
Less than a year ago, Haley, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump, was quoted as saying she would not run for president against her former boss.
"I would not run if President Trump ran," she told reporters at the time, "and I would talk to him about it."
Nikki Haley last April:
“I would not run if President Trump ran." https://t.co/HOA0Bjf185 pic.twitter.com/3EEigjq3tV
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 1, 2023
Evidently, she now has Trump's blessing to pursue the presidency.
In a conversation with reporters aboard his plane on a campaign trip Saturday, Trump said, "She called me and said she'd like to consider it, and I said, 'You should do it,'" according to CBS News.
"I talked to her for a little while," Trump told reporters. "I said, 'Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run.'"
Invitations are going out to Haley's backers to attend a "special announcement" on Feb. 15 in Charleston, the Post and Courier reported.
In a Fox News interview last month, Haley hinted at her change of heart about running for president.
"Well, when you're looking at a run for president, you look at two things. You first look at, does the current situation push for new leadership? The second question is, am I that person that could be that new leader?" she said.
Haley said she considered the current state of inflation, foreign policy, small businesses struggling and big government getting bigger, and decided the answer was yes.
"Can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader," Haley said.
"I think it's time for new generational change," Haley told Fox. "I don't think you need to be 80 years old to go be a leader in D.C. ... I think we need a young generation to come in, step up, and really start fixing things."
She repeated a line she has said before regarding her chances of success.
"I've never lost a race," she told Fox. "I said that then; I still say that now. I'm not going to lose now."
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
