In the months that have passed since the Republican Party’s lackluster midterm performance, a large swath of its donor class, media apparatus, and political leadership have painted Donald Trump’s 2024 bid as being dead on arrival. But so far, calls for a replacement flag-bearer have gone completely unanswered—though perhaps not for long.
Nikki Haley, Trump’s United Nations ambassador and the former governor of South Carolina, is preparing to release a video kicking off her presidential campaign, according to The Washington Post. The video will reportedly serve as a prelude to a campaign launch event in Charleston, South Carolina, where Haley’s political advisers have flocked.
Haley might not move the needle like Governor Ron DeSantis, the favored shadow candidate of Trump’s far-right detractors, but she will likely beat him to the punch. Meanwhile, other rumored GOP hopefuls—like Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo—are in a holding pattern. Rather than announce now only to face the brunt of Trump’s attacks, the Post noted, Pence has been quietly meeting with campaign donors and laying the groundwork in early primary states.
Trump has taken notice of Haley’s ambitions, but remains unbothered, despite her potentially reneging on a 2021 promise to “not run if President Trump ran.” While en route to one of his first campaign events in South Carolina over the weekend, Trump confirmed that Haley did brief him on her 2024 plans. “I talked to her for a little while, I said, ‘Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run,’” he said. “I said, ‘You should do it,’” he added. Trump’s surprisingly sanguine response to Haley’s possible challenge is likely due to her low poll numbers: A recent poll of Republican primary voters in her home state found that only 12% of respondents backed Haley, who served as South Carolina’s governor from 2011 to 2017. Trump led the poll at 41%, 10 points ahead of runner-up DeSantis, the primary target of Trump’s ire.
Haley—who was critical of the former president prior to serving as his ambassador to the UN—has dissented when asked about Trump’s false election-fraud claims, a wedge issue he often uses to distinguish between friend and foe. “There was fraud in the election,” she said in 2021, “but I don’t think that the numbers were so big that it swayed the vote in the wrong direction.”
As for Joe Biden’s 2024 plans, the president is reportedly expected to launch his reelection campaign in the coming months.
Caleb Ecarma
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