Nikki Haley fuels speculation of 2024 run with GOP convention speech

Former US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley has sparked rumors that she is eyeing the White House, after using her address to support US President Donald Trump while also laying out her own vision for the country.

Haley accused Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his party of “blaming America first,” and pushed back on the notion that “America is racist.”

“That is a lie. America is not a racist country,” Haley said. “This is personal for me.”

As the daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley argued that she was able to excel despite growing up as a “brown girl in a black and white world.” She noted that South Carolina had elected her as the state’s first minority, female governor. 

Describing the United States as a “work in progress,” she criticized the Democrats for their divisive rhetoric and for “turning a blind eye towards riots and rage” amid months of Black Lives Matter protests that have erupted across the nation. 

Her speech was hailed by many conservative pundits, with some even labeling her a clear contender in 2024. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer swooned over her “reassuring, strong and direct” demeanor, claiming Haley was “pro-Trump, while maintaining her own quietly powerful identity.”

Haley also used her address to criticize the United Nations as a place where “dictators, murderers, and thieves denounce America, and then put their hands out and demand that we pay their bills.” She claimed that Trump, unlike former president Barack Obama, had “stood against our enemies” at the UN.

Haley’s tenure as UN ambassador was highly controversial, with the former governor using her seat on the Security Council to give dramatic presentations about alleged chemical attacks in Syria, as well as accuse Iran of providing missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen. 

Like this story? Share it with a friend!