Former South Carolina governor and Trump administration official Nikki Haley is turning some heads with a discussion about a 2024 presidential bid.
Previously, Haley — who served as then-President Donald Trump’s UN ambassador — had said if he decided to throw his hat into the ring she would defer to him and stay out of the race.
Now, however, she doesn’t sound so sure.
“When you’re looking at a run for president, you look at two things,” Haley told Fox News anchor Bret Baier this week.
“You first look at, does the current situation push for new leadership? The second question is, am I that person that could be that new leader, that, yes, we need to go in a new direction? And can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader,” she insisted.
“I was — as governor, I took on a hurting state with double-digit unemployment, and we made it the beast of the Southeast,” she added. “As ambassador, I took on the world when they tried to disrespect us. And I think I showed what I’m capable of at the United Nations.”
“So, do I think I could be that leader? Yes,” she said. “But we are still working through things, and we will figure it out. I have never lost a race. I said that then. I still say that now. I’m not going to lose now. But stay tuned.”
'I CAN BE THAT LEADER': Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley hints at 2024 presidential run during exclusive interview with Bret Baier pic.twitter.com/KAa7qnjzgl
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 19, 2023
Here’s more, via a transcript of the interview:
AIER: OK.
A reporter was asking you if you would support Donald Trump if he ran again in 2024. And you told this AP reporter: “Yes. I would not run if President Trump ran. And I would talk to him about it.” And you added: “That’s something that we will have a conversation about at some point.”
Obviously, President Trump, former President Trump, is running. What has changed, if you are where you are?
HALEY: I had a great working relationship with the president. I appreciate all the foreign policy issues we worked on together.
But what I will tell you is, the survival of America matters. And it’s bigger than one person. And 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 D.C. I think we need a young generation to come in, step up, and really start fixing things.
And all of that, when I said 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.
And when I look at that, I look at the fact, if I’m this passionate, and I’m this determined, why not me?
BAIER: So I have talked to a number of high-profile conservatives, some of them very supportive of Trump, Trump supporters from the beginning, who say, maybe it’s time, to your point, for a different person to hold the torch.
They love Trump policies but didn’t particularly love all the controversies around the man. Is that what you hear?
HALEY: I don’t so much listen to that as hearing all the negatives against Biden.
We have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. Seven out of eight Republicans have lost. Something is wrong. And so I think it’s time that we bring in a new generation that can bring in more people to our party, that can really talk about the solutions that we need to go.
If I run, I’m running against Joe Biden. That’s what I’m focused on, because we can’t have a second term of Joe Biden.
