Nikki Haley, the right candidate to help Republicans move on from the Trump era? | DW News

Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina turned US ambassador to the UN under former President Donald Trump, announced that she is running to secure the Republican nomination for president in 2024. "I'm Nikki Haley and I'm running for president," she said in a video statement. The 51-year-old described her biography as one of a proud daughter of Indian immigrants who became governor in her home state of South Carolina. The video, shot in the town of Bamberg, South Carolina, where she was born, sought to cast the former governor turned ambassador as a younger alternative to Trump, who is currently 76 years old. "It's time for a new generation of leadership — to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border, and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose," she said in the video announcement.

For weeks, Haley had teased a "big announcement" on February 15, but in the end she announced a day earlier on Valentine's Day. She is hoping to cast herself as an agent of change who is capable of revitalizing the conservative party and the nation. Haley pointed to her immigrant background, suggesting a post-racial future for the US is possible. In her video statement, Haley said, "I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not black, not white," before adding, "I was different." She noted, "My mom would always say, 'Your job is not to focus on the differences, but the similarities.'" Haley used her personal background to address racial tensions in the US, but set herself in opposition to criticism over systemic racism in the country. "They say the promise of freedom is just made up. Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist, and evil. Nothing could be further from the truth." She also criticized current US President Joe Biden, calling the Democrat's record "abysmal," and sought to frame his administration as elitist. "The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again," she said. Haley spoke briefly on geopolitics, casting China as a country committing "genocide" against an ethnic minority, declaring Russia was "on the march," and saying that Iran was committing "murder" against its citizens who disagreed with the country's clerical regime. "You should know this about me: I don't put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels," she said.

We talk to Meghan Milloy, the founder and executive director of the group Republican Women for Progress.

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