Nikki Haley is a Longshot for the Republican Nomination: Nikki Haley could be among a crowded field of Trump administration alumni, including Mike Pompeo and possibly Vice President Mike Pence, all running against their former boss, former President Donald Trump.
That is of course with the exceptions of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Does Haley have any chance of winning the GOP nomination and going on to beat Joe Biden?
Nikki Haley: An Interesting Choice in Running
Haley’s decision to back away from her promise not to challenge Trump for president were he to decide to seek a second non-consecutive term could come back to haunt her. It certainly won’t keep the former president from running – who has notorious disdain for disloyalty. Trump has already shown a willingness to use the so-called loyalty card against current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“I appreciated the way he let me do my job,” Haley said in an April 2021 press conference. “I thought we did some fantastically great foreign policy things together, and look, I just want to keep building on what we accomplished and not watch it get torn down.”
How She Is Doing So Far: Her Key Issues
So far the first six weeks, Haley has raised $11 million for her race, a fraction of the estimated $110 million raised by Super PACs linked to DeSantis supporters. Trump raised $7 million in the days following his indictment alone. Haley’s campaign claimed having $7.8 million on-hand at the beginning of April.
“Voters and donors are clearly responding to Nikki’s conservative message and her call for a new generation of leadership to make America strong and proud,” Betsy Ankney, Haley’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “As Nikki said in her announcement speech in Charleston on February 15, ‘I’ve been underestimated before. That’s always fun.’”
Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, recently made the Biden administration’s refusal to defend the nation’s borders a significant issue of her campaign. She became the first GOP presidential hopeful to visit the border last week.
“… Shame on you because you are putting every single American at risk. This is a national security threat… this is your job, your job is to protect the American people. You’re not doing it, you don’t deserve to be president,” Haley said in an interview with Fox News as having said during a press conference along the Mexican border, adding that what she’s witnessed has been a “dereliction of duty.”
Haley continued: “I don’t know why the Democrats are allowing him to run,” she continued. “We can’t allow this to continue to happen. Biden thinks if he doesn’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist. But for the people now in Hondo, Texas, for the people here now in Del Rio, it does exist every day. And now it is in every state in the country.”
She wants 20,000 new border patrol agents instead of the 80,000 new IRS agents and an end to catch and release.
“What we saw on the border was just horrific,” Haley told Fox Carolina last week. “Every state is now a border state.”
Haley contends that parents need to have a stronger say in their children’s education to prevent them from receiving what she sees as LGBT indoctrination in schools.
“Let parents have those conversations and let teachers just focus on teaching. It’s something we need to implement across the board. Parents need to know what’s being taught in their schools. Right now, parents need to be shown what’s being taught to their kids,” Haley said. “They see that boys are playing in girls’ sports. They don’t want boys in the girls locker rooms. All of these things, parents feel like they are out of the loop.”
Haley As Vice President?
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton suggested that Haley would be a better choice for vice president, noting that she allegedly wanted to replace Mike Pence in the role during the Trump administration.
With a crowded field and Trump dominating the polls, Nikki Haley likely would have a better chance in 2028. Her path to the GOP nomination and to the presidency is nonexistent.
