CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s early presidential campaign announcement has ended the one-man race for the Republican nomination and any speculation about her ambitions.
But the announcement, leaked before a much-hyped event in her home state of South Carolina, now raises questions about whether her campaign message calling for “a new generation of leadership” will resonate with Republican primary voters as the two-term governor contends with her only major declared opponent, former President Donald Trump.
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John Bolton, another Trump administration alum who is considering becoming a 2024 presidential candidate, dismissed Haley as “really running for vice president.”
But Haley believes she is a viable alternative to Trump or Gov. Ron DeSantis and that 2024 is her best shot against a “discredited” Trump, with a “deeply divided” Republican Party and a “possibly vulnerable incumbent” in President Joe Biden,” according to Charles Bierbauer, a former Washington-based reporter and dean emeritus of the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications.
“To get on any other ticket, Haley will have to better explain serving as Trump’s U.N. ambassador,” he told the Washington Examiner.
Haley did not mention Trump once in her 3 1/2-minute announcement video, shared one day before Wednesday’s “special announcement” event in Charleston, Coastal Carolina University American studies director Drew Kurlowski said. In the past, she condemned Trump over Jan. 6 before expressing her pride in his administration, describing his policies as “right” and “what the Republican Party cares about” on social media weeks later. She also pledged not to contest the presidency against Trump but received his blessing before Tuesday’s announcement.
“It might allow her to walk a fine line between totally disavowing Trump and being too close,” Kurlowski added. “Now, to play devil’s advocate, that sort of fence-sitting may not play well with the more loyal MAGA crowd and the stronger Never Trump crowd. They may be looking for more of a commitment.”
Former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC), himself a Trump critic, defended Haley’s decision not to criticize Trump directly, asserting that her reference to Republicans’ failure to earn the popular vote in seven of the past eight presidential elections is “clearly” a rebuke.
“Maybe it’s time for someone new, and let’s try ‘likable’ again,” he said, insinuating Trump is unlikable.
Francis Macon University politics professor David White advised national political reporters “never underestimate” Haley, who could be the sole woman — and one of Indian descent — in the primary.
“She is talking up a ‘new generation of leadership,'” he said. “Of course, DeSantis might say that as well, but she has a point.“
Haley amplified Republican complaints about Democrats’ approach to social issues and distanced herself from the “establishment” in her announcement video. But she could broaden the GOP “tent” and appeal to independent women with her traditionally conservative platform of fiscal responsibility and being a foreign policy hawk, at least in a general election, according to College of Charleston School of Humanities and Social Sciences dean Gibbs Knotts.
“It’ll be a really crowded field. It’s going to be hard, and, I mean, look, she can’t go anywhere but up,” Knotts said.
Haley records single-digit support in early polls, and her announcement video was viewed fewer than 35,000 times in the first 12 hours it was posted online. A Reuters-Ipsos poll released Tuesday, for instance, found 43% of registered Republicans backed Trump, 31% DeSantis, 7% former Vice President Mike Pence, and 4% Haley. However, she does notch higher favorable ratings. Her campaign was additionally dinged for publishing the announcement video on YouTube as “unlisted” without a hyperlink to her website, squandering potential fundraising opportunities.
Haley’s announcement was welcomed by the likes of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) without an endorsement since Graham has already backed Trump.
“She has performed at the highest level in every elected and appointed position she has held,” he tweeted. “I’m confident she will acquit herself well as a candidate for president.”
Nikki Haley has led an incredible life with many successes and accomplishments.
She has performed at the highest level in every elected and appointed position she has held. https://t.co/ybjgUiS6Y1
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 14, 2023
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) declined to endorse Haley as well so she could “see how the field shakes out” because she “may or may not have multiple constituents from South Carolina running.” Haley backed Mace last year after Trump endorsed her primary opponent.
“Republicans need to have a woman on the ticket in one way or another, and I think she would be fantastic,” she told CNN Tuesday.
Mace was alluding to Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who was appointed by Haley in 2013 and will launch a national listening tour in Charleston on Thursday as Haley heads to Iowa and New Hampshire. Scott’s own presidential campaign could impinge on Haley’s “lane,” especially in South Carolina, where they share a political network. Although Haley has been praised for her leadership during natural disasters and the 2015 Charleston church shooting, she has had strained relationships with state lawmakers in the past.
Meanwhile, Democrats have seized on there being another declared Republican candidate. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, a fellow South Carolinian, denounced Haley’s record and questioned “what she really stands for.”
“She signed into law an extreme abortion ban that had no exceptions for rape or incest, and she allowed for providers to be thrown in jail,” Harrison told reporters Tuesday. “She pushed for tax cuts that would benefit the wealthy and corporations. She refused to expand Medicaid to provide access to affordable healthcare for hundreds of thousands here in South Carolina.”
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“If she says that she wants to do for the nation what she did for South Carolina, God bless us all,” he said.
