Washington: Prominent Indian-American Republican Party leader Nikki Haley is poised to launch her 2024 White House bid February 15 — positioning herself to be the first challenger to former US president Donald Trump.
Haley, 51, is the two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations.
When she enters the race, Haley will be the first contender to join the contest against her former boss, who is currently the sole Republican seeking his party’s 2024 nomination.
Trump, 76, launched his White House bid last year.
Haley could release a video signalling her plans as soon as this week, according to the Washington Post.
According to an invitation soon going out to her backers, Haley’s advertised “special announcement” will come February 15 at The Shed at the Charleston Visitor Center, a downtown gathering spot that could draw hundreds of supporters into the heart of the city’s tourism district, The Post and Courier reported.
“The confirmation that she is entering the race came on January 31 from a member of Haley’s inner circle,” the Charleston, South Carolina-based daily reported.
Haley famously said previously that she would not seek to challenge Trump if he ran again, but there has been a shift in her stance in recent times as she said the US needs to look toward a different path.
“It’s time for a new generation,” she tweeted recently.
“It’s time for new leadership. And it’s time to take our country back. America is worth the fight — and we’re just getting started,” she said.
In an interview with Fox News last month, she said the US needs a “new leader” who can take the country in a new direction.
“But 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, that, yes, we need to go in a new direction? And can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader,” Haley said in that interview.
During the interview, Haley also emphasised that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, should not be given a second term.
Biden, 80, is the oldest sitting US President.
The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held November 5, 2024.
Haley was born Nimrata Randhawa to Ajit Singh Randhawa and mother Raj Kaur Randhawa, who had emigrated from Punjab to Canada and then to the US in the 1960s.
Her father was a professor at the Punjab Agricultural University, and her mother received a law degree from Delhi University.
PTI
