Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley attended an event in her home state on Saturday to speak about foreign policy while signaling she still has a “little bit of time” to decide whether to launch a 2024 presidential bid.
The former United Nations ambassador spoke to a crowd of more than 250 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center for an Army Engineer Association gala, underscoring that her focus in the next few years is set on helping to elect Republicans to gubernatorial positions as well as the House and Senate.
When asked whether she would be seeking an election bid in the 2024 presidential race, Haley said, “I don’t think I really have to focus on my next step until the first part of 2023,” stating just before that “I think I’ve got a little bit of time,” according to the Post and Courier.
NIKKI HALEY PAC OFF TO SOLID START WITH $5.5 MILLION IN FIRST SIX MONTHS
Haley, 49, has already made other appearances this year in Iowa and New Hampshire with a focus on the 2022 midterm elections. She and other members of the GOP have been vying for a takeover of the majority in the House, which Democrats narrowly maintain at 219-211.
After being elected governor in 2011, Haley left the position when former President Donald Trump selected her as U.N. ambassador, which she worked as until Dec. 31, 2018, when she resigned.
Haley’s Stand for America political action committee launched in January and has amassed $5.4 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The PAC is focused on GOP 2022 midterm wins.
The former governor’s relationship with Trump has been inconsistent in the past, going from a vocal critic of his 2016 campaign to a champion of his foreign policy goals while working as an ambassador. Haley’s criticism clamped back down following the violent Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after saying, “We need to acknowledge he let us down.”
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Haley has already said she would not run for president if Trump decides to seek another term. Trump has not declared his bid for the 2024 election but has floated the possibility while keeping his eyes focused on midterm elections, earning significant support in public polls for being the desired candidate in the next presidential election.
