Nikki Haley, a South Carolina governor and a United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration, is officially running for president, The New York Times reports.
She becomes the first GOP rival to take on former president Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
It means Haley will be running against her one-time boss for the 2024 Republican ticket.
Haley entered the race for president after a well-hinted-at move that is likely to leave her as the lone major Republican challenger to former President Donald J. Trump for many weeks, if not months, as other potential 2024 rivals bide their time.
It means Haley has also broken a promise she made two years ago to not challenge the ex-Republican president for the White House.
But Haley recently indicated that she would go back on her word, saying the country’s economy was too distressed for her to stand by.
Haley called for “generational change” in the Republican party.
As of this morning, no other major Republican candidate besides Trump and Haley had announced bids aiming to unseat Biden, who has said he intends to seek a second four-year term.
Haley is vying to become the first female president after a poll published last week found that her entry into a 2024 Republican primary would be enough to keep Trump ahead of his only current close rival: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Most early polls show Trump with a comfortable lead in South Carolina, whose primary he won on his way to the presidency in 2016.
“Now is not the time to hold back. Now is the time for a strong and proud America,” Haley tweeted, linking to a campaign video.
Nikki Haley has previously criticized Trump’s behavior up to and during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
The day after the riot, she said in a speech that “his actions since election day will be judged harshly by history.”
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