Nikki Haley, as soon as Trump’s UN ambassador, to take him on in 2024

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will kick off her marketing campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this month, squaring off in opposition to her one-time boss, former President Donald Trump, two sources conversant in her plans stated on Wednesday.

The transfer would make her simply the second declared Republican candidate and will set the stage for a extra combative part of the marketing campaign, doubtlessly placing her within the sights of the combative former U.S. president.

Haley’s marketing campaign despatched an electronic mail to supporters on Wednesday inviting them to a Feb. 15 occasion in Charleston. There she is going to declare her candidacy, the sources stated.

South Carolina is predicted to host one of many first Republican nominating primaries in 2024 and can play an essential function in selecting the eventual candidate.

The daughter of two Indian immigrants who ran a profitable clothes retailer in a rural a part of the state, Haley has gained a fame within the Republican Occasion as a stable conservative who has the flexibility to deal with problems with gender and race in a extra credible trend than lots of her friends.

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She has additionally pitched herself as a stalwart defender of American pursuits overseas, having served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations underneath Trump from 2017 to 2018. Throughout that point, the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, which was inked underneath Democratic President Barack Obama and was extremely unpopular amongst Republicans.

One Haley affiliate stated she selected to launch her marketing campaign this early to attempt to seize voters’ consideration and shake up a race that had to date been dominated by Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not but declared whether or not he’ll run.

Many key Republican donors and elected officers in South Carolina have been on the lookout for options to Trump amid considerations about his electability, in accordance with conservations in current weeks with greater than a dozen celebration officers and strategists.

A number of outstanding Republicans, together with Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott opted to skip a Trump marketing campaign look in Columbia on Saturday, which was meant to showcase his assist within the state.

Trump instructed reporters on Saturday that Haley had known as him to say she was contemplating a run and that he instructed her “go by your hear if you wish to run,” in accordance with a number of media experiences.

Haley obtained nationwide consideration in 2015 when, as governor, she signed a invoice into regulation eradicating the Accomplice battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol, following the homicide of 9 black churchgoers by white supremacist Dylann Roof.

If she have been to win the nomination, Haley could be the primary lady on the prime of the Republican presidential ticket in historical past, in addition to the celebration’s first non-white nominee.

Amongst her main challenges might be nailing down a constant message. Even in a subject the place most candidates have modified their thoughts about key points a number of instances, Haley is especially chameleonic.

She has distanced herself from Trump a number of instances, solely to later soften her rhetoric, saying he has an essential function to play within the Republican Occasion.

Whereas she has criticized Republicans for baselessly casting doubt on the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election, she campaigned on behalf of a number of candidates who supported Trump’s false election fraud claims through the 2022 midterms.

At the same time as she has at instances adopted a conciliatory message on racial points, she typically opts for a much less measured tone. In November, she stated at a marketing campaign rally that Democratic Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, a Black man born in Savannah, ought to be “deported.”

Enjoying into Haley’s palms could also be geography: South Carolina is traditionally the third state to host the Republican nominating contest, and it typically performs an outsized function within the race. Haley, who ruled the state from 2011 to 2017, is common there, polls present.

Trump and DeSantis have each been lively within the state.

Whereas Haley comes into the race as an underdog – most nationwide polls present her assist within the single digits – she is used to operating from behind, having gained a fame in political circles for popping out on prime in tough-to-win races.

A marketing campaign spokesperson declined to touch upon Wednesday.

Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Gram Slattery; Modifying by Ross Colvin, Daniel Wallis and Andrew Heavens

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.

Gram Slattery

Thomson Reuters

Washington-based correspondent masking campaigns and Congress. Beforehand posted in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago, Chile, and has reported extensively all through Latin America. Co-winner of the 2021 Reuters Journalist of the Yr Award within the enterprise protection class for a collection on corruption and fraud within the oil trade. He was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard Faculty.