Republican Nikki Haley launches White House campaign

CHARLESTON, SC — Republican Nikki Haley kicked off her presidential campaign on Wednesday, betting on her career as a woman and person of color who served as governor of a southern state before representing the United States on the world stage , he could surpass the entrenched support enjoyed by his former boss, former President Donald Trump.

Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina and ambassador to the United Nations, appeared in public for the first time as a candidate for the White House in the historic city of Charleston on the Atlantic coast, presenting herself as a representative of a change generation capable of recovering the presidency of his party.

“If you’re tired of losing, trust a new generation,” Haley said.

She highlighted her experience in the UN, her background as the daughter of Indian immigrants and spoke in terms of hope for the country’s future. “Believe me,” he said, “America is not a racist country.”

He tried to put on a show of force in his home state, where one of the first primaries to influence the Republican candidacy is taking place. Rep. Ralph Norman, who spoke before her and whom Trump endorsed in the 2022 congressional election, was the first in his state to publicly endorse her.

A few hundred people occupied a wallless, metal-roofed structure known as “the Shed,” adjacent to the Charleston Visitor Center, for an hour before the speech. The crowd carried campaign signs and American flags and listened to music from a row of speakers.

On Tuesday, Haley posted a video in which she declared her candidacy, the first by a high-profile figure challenging Trump, and hardly the last. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are expected to do so in the coming months. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott could be another challenger.

At the start of the primary campaign, the big question is whether anyone will be able to move Trump to lead a party transformed by him in the 2016 campaign. voters with a significant weight in the primary. , even if some leaders blame him for the poor performance of the midterm elections. As in 2016, the multiplicity of candidates could favor Trump and allow him to win the nomination given the splits in the vote between his opponents.

Haley, 51, barely hinted at the 76-year-old former president, saying he had appointed her as an ambassador to the UN.