Nikki Haley is headed to Nashville, Tennessee, to raise money for a leading Republican Senate candidate, a move sure to attract notice as Republicans jockey to succeed President Trump in 2024.
Haley, 48, was President Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations and is laying the foundation for a possible 2024 campaign. In Tennessee, a red state where Trump enjoys solid support, Haley is scheduled to headline a Feb. 18 fundraiser for Bill Hagerty, the consensus Republican to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander. Hagerty is Trump’s former ambassador to Japan.
In a sign of Haley’s star power inside the party, the Hagerty campaign is holding a drawing that will offer two grassroots supporters tickets to the fundraiser for the opportunity to meet the former South Carolina governor.
“Team Hagerty is excited to have Ambassador Nikki Haley with us in Tennessee next week, and we are so grateful she stands with us in our fight to protect the conservative values of Tennesseans,” campaign manager Michael Sullivan said in a statement. Hagerty, who has been endorsed by Trump, should easily glide to victory in Tennessee in November.
Haley declined to support Trump at the outset of his 2016 campaign, endorsing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the Republican primary. But after Trump was elected, he appointed her U.N. ambassador, and she has since managed to straddle the line of supporting the president without necessarily defending all of his controversial actions and provocative rhetoric. However, she has become a more vocal Trump supporter since leaving his cabinet.
After departing, Haley launched Stand For America. The political nonprofit group is seen as both a way for Haley to stay in the public eye and a platform for a future presidential bid.
