Nikki Haley – ‘America’s Thatcher’ – launches White House run

Nikki Haley made a thinly veiled attack on Joe Biden and Donald Trump, saying it was time for a generational shift in Washington.

Nikki Haley launches her US presidential campaign in Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday (AEDT). Picture: AFP

CHARLESTON: Nikki Haley has been hailed as America’s Margaret Thatcher as she told a packed meeting of supporters in her home state that she is running to be US president.

Speaking in Charleston, the former South Carolina governor issued a thinly veiled attack on President Joe Biden, 80, and Donald Trump, 76, saying it was time for a generational shift in Washington.

“In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire,” Ms Haley, 51, said on Thursday (AEDT). “We’ll have term limits for congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”

Without mentioning Mr Trump by name, she warned her own Republican party that it was destined to lose if it allowed the former president to have a third run at the White House next year.

“I have a particular message for my fellow Republicans,” she said. “We’ve lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of the majority of Americans. That ends today.

“If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win, not just as a party but as a country, stand with me.”

For all the adulation in Charleston, the reality is that Ms Haley has a lot of catching up to do in a race that is yet to formally begin. An Ipsos poll for Reuters of Republican supporters published this week suggested only 4 per cent saw her as their preferred candidate, with Mr Trump on 43 per cent and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, 44, on 31 per cent.

Even Mike Pence, 63, a hate figure for many Trump Republicans, attracted 7 per cent of those polled.

The poll numbers did little to dampen the optimism among Ms Haley’s supporters in Charleston.

“We’ve known her for years; she’s fiscally responsible, she cares about the country,” Ann Grindstaff said. “Is she going to win? Sure. We have better things to do than stand in line for someone who’s not going to win. She’s grassroots and is like a dog with a bone.”

Ms Haley said she revelled in being the underdog and that she had won elections she was expected to lose before.

In 2004 she challenged Larry Koon, the longest-serving Republican in the South Carolina House of Representatives, beating him comfortably in the party primary. When she ran to be the state’s governor in 2009, she was met with newspaper headlines saying, “Nikki who?”

Ralph Norman, a congressman serving South Carolina’s fifth district, told the crowd in Charleston that Ms Haley would be America’s Thatcher.

“In 1979 Great Britain elected its first woman prime minister. She was known as the Iron Lady for her bold leadership. I believe Nikki Haley is America’s version of Margaret Thatcher,” he said.

Up to a dozen leading party figures are expected to join Ms Haley and Mr Trump in the race that will formally begin with the Iowa caucus next year. She is expected to be the only woman in the race.

Mr Trump declared in November and with Mr DeSantis is thought to be favourite to win the nomination. Mr DeSantis is expected to declare later this year.

South Carolina will be the first southern state to pick a Republican candidate. Mr Trump won in 2016, propelling him to the nomination.

Mr Trump’s campaign team issued a press release accusing Haley of “flip-flopping” since she said in 2021 she would support the former president if he ran again.

The Times