Nikki Haley takes on Trump for 2024 US Republican nomination

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Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday kicked off her campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, a tough challenge as her former boss Donald Trump holds a strong lead in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

“I’m Nikki Haley and I’m running for president,” Haley said in a video that her team sent out by email as she joined Trump as the only announced 2024 candidates.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as the U.N. ambassador under Trump from 2017 to 2018, is set to lay out her campaign plans in a speech on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina.

The daughter of two Indian immigrants who ran a successful clothing store in a rural part of South Carolina, Haley, 51, has gained a reputation in the Republican Party as a solid conservative who has the ability to address issues of gender and race in a more credible fashion than many of her peers.

Launching her candidacy more than 20 months ahead of the November 2024 election gives Haley more of a chance to draw attention and raise funds before the Republican field grows in the coming weeks and months. But it also makes her an early target of the combative Trump.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday that found that 4% of registered Republicans supported Haley. Trump received support from 43% of registered Republicans in the poll conducted from Feb. 6-13, while 31% said they supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch a campaign but has not yet done so.

Other high-profile Republicans looking at a 2024 run include former Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, among others.

“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,” Haley said in her video.

She also harked back to her foreign policy experience with a folksy flair.