(DCWatchdog.com) – Nikki Haley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina, disparaged former President Donald Trump at the start of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Haley, an American of Indian origin, has been known as an ally of President Trump. She served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations under his administration from 2017-2018. She was the governor of South Carolina from 2011-2017.
In November, Trump announced his third candidacy for the White House, officially launching his 2024 presidential campaign on Saturday with a rally in South Carolina’s capital Columbia.
The former president gave a speech before 200 people in the state’s Capitol. He was accompanied by US Senator Lindsey Graham and South Carolina’s Governor Henry McMaster.
However, Newsweek reported that Nikki Haley was notably missing from the event, adding that she was expected to launch her presidential campaign in the next few months.
“It’s time for a new generation to lead,” Haley posted on Twitter on the day when Trump started campaigning.
In the same tweet, she included a video of a Fox News interview she gave earlier in January.
The clip showed Haley responding to a question about her declaration in 2021 that she would not run for the 2024 presidential nomination of the Republican Party if Trump decided to do so.
In her reply, the former Trump ally declared that the “survival of America matters” and that this was “bigger than one person.”
“When you’re looking at the future of America, I think it’s time for new generational change. I don’t think you need to be 80 years old to go be a leader in DC,” Haley declared.
She seemed to refer to the age of President Joe Biden, who is 80, and former President Trump, who is 76.
“I think we need a young generation to come in, step up, and really start fixing things,” said the 51-year-old former US Ambassador to the UN.
In the Fox News interview, Haley did not confirm she would run for president in 2024 but said she was close to deciding.
She argued she had vowed to back off in case of a new Trump candidacy before many crucial recent developments.
“[That was] before we surrendered to Afghanistan, it was before we saw this high inflation and high crime, it was before we saw drugs infesting all of our states, it was before we saw our foreign policy in disarray, so a lot has changed,” Haley said.
“When I look at that, I look at the fact if I’m this passionate and I’m this determined, why not me?” she asked.
On Saturday, The Dispatch reported that Haley could announce her 2024 presidential candidacy as soon as February.
"It's time for a new generation to lead," Haley, who was Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, wrote on Twitter. https://t.co/PseeVGhvF9
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 29, 2023
