How will Nikki Haley’s 2024 US presidential run pan out for Donald Trump?

Nikki Haley, former United States ambassador to the United Nations, has officially entered the Republican race for the 2024 presidential elections, becoming the first GOP leader to challenge Donald Trump. Announcing her presidential campaign on Tuesday (14 February), Haley called for a “new generation of leadership", apparently referring to the 76-year-old former US president Trump. “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,” Haley said in a video on Twitter. “I’m Nikki Haley, and I’m running for president.”

Get excited! Time for a new generation.

Let’s do this! 👊 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023

Who is Nikki Haley and how she has had complex ties with Trump? How will her bid impact the former US president? We explain. Who is Nikki Haley? Nikki Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina to Punjabi Sikh immigrants from India. In 2004, she bagged a seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives, reported Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News. She rose on the national stage in 2010 when she became the youngest governor in America at the age of 39. Her victory made her South Carolina’s first female and Asian-American governor, noted BBC. She was re-elected for the role in 2014. [caption id=“attachment_12157562” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nikki Haley became South Carolina’s first female and Asian-American governor in 2010. AP File Photo[/caption] In what was seen as a “defining moment of her governorship”, says BBC, Haley backed taking down the Confederate flag flying over the state Capitol building after a white supremacist shot dead nine black churchgoers in Charleston in 2015. The Confederate flag is seen as a sign of slavery. A pro-life conservative, Haley supported legislation in South Carolina meant to curtail access to abortion. In her first year as governor, she signed a bill to prevent illegal immigration. She also supports gun rights. ALSO READ: Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the Indian-American Republican mulling a White House bid? Her changing stances on Trump 51-year-old Haley has had turnarounds on Trump several times in the past. During the 2016 presidential election, she remained critical of Trump, saying she was “not a fan”. She first endorsed Florida Senator Marc Rubio for the Republican nomination and after he was out of the race, she backed Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Haley also called out Trump for not taking a hard stance against racism. “I will not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the KKK,” she said, as per ABC News. “That is not a part of our party. That’s not who we want as president.” However, her about-turn came after Trump became the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, whom she backed over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. After Trump became the US president, Haley accepted a position in his cabinet and was appointed as the US ambassador to the UN in 2017. She stepped down from the post before the 2018 November midterms, receiving a “glowing parting speech” from Trump, noted Time magazine. [caption id=“attachment_12157582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nikki Haley has had turnarounds on Trump several times in the past. AP File Photo[/caption] In her book With All Due Respect: Defending America With Grit and Grace published in 2019_,_ she lauded Trump extensively. She hit out at Trump after the deadly 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, saying: “I think he’s going to find himself further and further isolated”. “I think he’s lost any sort of political viability he was going to have… He’s not going to run for federal office again… I don’t think he’s going to be in the picture. … I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far”, Haley told Politico. However, she seemed to have changed her mind about Trump by October 2021 when she told The Wall Street Journal: “He has the ability to get strong people elected, and he has the ability to move the ball, and I hope that he continues to do that”. “We need him in the Republican Party. I don’t want us to go back to the days before Trump.” At a press conference in 2021, Haley said she would not run for the 2024 elections if Trump was, a statement the former president has latched on to. Posting the old video of Haley saying she would back him in 2024, Trump earlier wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, “Nikki has to follow her heart, not her honor [sic]. She should definitely run!”, reported ABC News. Taylor Budowich, head of the pro-Trump Make America Great Again group, dismissed Haley’s campaign bid, calling her “just another career politician," as per Reuters. What does Haley’s bid mean for Trump? Besides Haley and Trump, other high-profile GOP leaders including Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson may also join the fray for the Republican nomination. According to Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, at 4 per cent, Haley is far behind Trump who was backed by 43 per cent of registered Republicans. DeSantis, a potential candidate, got the support of 31 per cent. Republican strategist John Feehery told ABC News he was “initially surprised” when he learnt Haley was considering taking on Trump. “She doesn’t have that dramatic of a national profile,” he said. “But then I thought … she’s a woman. She’s an immigrant. She’s a person of colour. She has governor experience. She has that UN experience. And she knows how to run and win campaigns. So, from [that] perspective, she’s a great candidate.” Speaking to ABC News, Feehery also lauded Haley’s “audacity” for becoming the first Republican to formally challenge Trump. “She gets to define herself,” he said, adding, “she gets to show herself as a courageous figure who’s willing to take on President Trump.” The Yahoo News/YouGov poll which was conducted before Haley’s announcement has found that just one additional candidate in the 2024 Republican primary will split the votes, giving an edge to Trump over his current closest rival DeSantis. Yahoo News reported, “In a hypothetical three-way match-up, Haley effectively plays the spoiler, attracting 11 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaners while DeSantis’s support falls by roughly the same amount (to 35 per cent), leaving Trump with more votes than either of them” at 38 per cent. However, when it is a head-to-head contest, more Republican voters chose DeSantis (around 45 per cent) over Trump (41 per cent). As per Feehery, the cards are stacked in Trump’s favour, making him “odds-on favourite to get the nomination”, reported ABC News. Haley’s presidential bid has another obstacle besides Trump. Senator Tim Scott, a fellow South Carolinian, could throw his hat in the race, making things tricky for Haley, reported Politico.  As per Reuters, many Republican leaders in South Carolina have been seeking alternatives to Trump amid questions about his electability. The state, which is likely to hold one of the first Republican nominating primaries next year, will play an important role in selecting the final candidate. Winning the primary election in South Carolina would be crucial for Haley’s campaign. “The Republican Party tends to be older, whiter and more male,” Feehery told ABC News. “The question is, can she appeal to those older white men in a way that gets her a significant amount of votes and, at the same time, attract new voters into the Republican Party? That’s going to be the big challenge that she has.”

With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.