Nikki Haley Announces 2024 Presidential Bid: ‘We Need New Generational Leadership’

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced her bid for the Republican presidential nominee in 2024. Haley said the need for “generational change” inspired her candidacy.

Haley, the ambassador to the U.N. during the first part of the Trump administration, began her campaign on Tuesday. The former Trump staffer is now Donald Trump‘s first challenger.

In an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, Haley, 51, said that she represented a generational change for political leaders.

“Look at everything that’s wrong in this country and tell me we don’t need new leadership,” she said to Hannity. “But the difference is we need new generational leadership. We have to leave the status quo. We have to leave this chaos behind, and we’ve got to start talking about the future.”

She has spent the majority of her interview talking about bringing new voters to the Republican party. She was asked twice to talk about policy areas where she differs from Trump, but she refused to answer.

“What I am saying is I don’t kick sideways,” she responded. “I’m kicking forward. Joe Biden is the president. He’s the one I’m running against.”

“We need to expand our tent. We have to bring Hispanics in. We have to bring the Jewish community in. We need to bring the Asian community in. We need to bring African-Americans in because our policies are right; our policies are good.”

Haley also called for “mental competency tests” for all politicians over 75 years old. Trump, 76, and Biden, 80, would be targeted by the new policy.

Trump was asked about Haley’s candidacy on Fox News and said he was happy she was running.

“I’m glad she’s running,” Trump said. “I want her to follow her heart, even though she made a commitment that she would never run against who she called the greatest president of her lifetime.”

Article by Ben Shimkus