Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will announce the launch of her 2024 presidential campaign in the coming weeks, according to a report.
Haley, who served in the Trump administration as the ambassador to the United Nations, will reportedly declare her intention to seek the Republican presidential nomination at a Feb. 15 event in Charleston, South Carolina, according to the Post and Courier newspaper.
She would join her ex-boss, former President Donald Trump, as the only other Republican to formally enter the 2024 presidential fray.
Haley’s expected announcement in two weeks comes as no surprise. The former South Carolina governor has teased a run at the White House for months, despite at one point saying that she would never run against Trump, 76, for president.
Earlier this month, Haley said during an interview on Fox News that she thinks she can be an effective commander-in-chief.
“Yes, I think I can be that leader,” Haley told Bret Baier on Fox News’ “Special Report” when asked about her presidential ambitions.
“I was – as governor, I took on a hurting state with double-digit unemployment, and we made it the beast of the Southeast. As ambassador, I took on the world when they tried to disrespect us. And I think I showed what I’m capable of at the United Nations,” she said, touting her record.
“So, do I think I could be that leader? Yes,” Haley told Baier, adding, “I have never lost a race.”
At 51, Haley is 25 years younger than Trump, and during her Jan. 19 interview with Fox, she argued that it is time for a younger generation of leaders in Washington.
“When you’re looking at the future of America, I think it’s time for new generational change,” she said. “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.”
Trump told reporters over the weekend that Haley reached out recently and informed him that she was considering launching her campaign.
“She called me and said she’d like to consider it, and I said, ‘You should do it,’” Trump said.
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll released in December found Haley favored for president in 2024 by 5% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, well behind Trump and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who were supported by 42% and 47%, respectively.
But more recent polling has found less support for the former Trump administration official.
Polls conducted by Emerson College, Morning Consult, and Harvard CAPS/Harris in January all tally 3% support for Haley in 2024.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is considering a 2024 White House run of his own, stirred controversy involving Haley earlier this month, when an excerpt from his new book accused her of scheming with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to oust then Vice President Mike Pence and become Trump’s No. 2.
Pompeo writes in “Never Give an Inch,” that Haley “played” John Kelly — then the White House chief of staff — by showing up to a supposed one-on-one Oval Office meeting with Trump with the president’s daughter and son-in-law in tow.
“As best Kelly could tell, they were presenting a possible ‘Haley for vice-president’ option,” Pompeo writes. “I can’t confirm this, but [Kelly] was certain he had been played, and he was not happy about it. Clearly, this visit did not reflect a team effort but undermined our work for America.”
Haley denied the bombshell accusation in an interview with Fox News, saying, “It’s really sad when you’re having to go out there and put lies and gossip to sell a book.”
But Pompeo is standing by his claim, telling CBS during an interview last week that he was told the story “was true” by both Kelly, and former senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway. He also suggested that the former UN ambassador left the Trump administration once things became difficult.
“They were coming at all of us pretty hard. And so, everyone was saying get out, quit, run – Ambassador Haley didn’t decide to stay, she decided to leave,” Pompeo told the news outlet.