Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is entering the 2024 presidential race and will formally announce her candidacy on February 15, according to South Carolina’s Post and Courier.
Haley is reportedly sending her backers invitations for a “special announcement” that will take place at The Shed Downtown at the Charleston Visitor Center in downtown Charleston where she will officially launch her candidacy.
A “member of Haley’s inner circle” confirmed Haley’s entrance into the 2024 race, the Post and Courier reported.
The report about Haley’s presidential announcement came less than two weeks after she told Fox News’s Bret Baier she believes she could be the leader to push America into a “new direction.”
“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?’” Haley said.
Haley is following former President Donald Trump’s lead and will be the second Republican to enter the upcoming presidential race.
President Donald Trump meets with outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The report also follows a revelation that Haley “played” Trump’s former chief of staff and plotted with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to become Trump’s vice president, according to Mike Pompeo’s new memoir.
However, Haley dismissed Pompeo’s claims as “lies and gossip to sell a book.”
Interestingly, Haley previously claimed she would not run for office if Trump announced his third bid for the White House.
“I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it,” Haley said in 2021. “That’s something we’ll have a conversation about at some point, if that decision is something that has to be made.”
It appears a conversation between Haley and Trump did occur before news of Haley’s presidential candidacy broke. Over a weekend trip on the campaign trail, which included a stop in Haley’s home state of South Carolina, Trump said Haley called him and spoke about her upcoming candidacy, which he encouraged.”
“I talked to her for a little while. I said, ‘Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run,’” Trump said. “She called me and said she’d like to consider it, and I said you should do it.”
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.
