With Donald Trump recently announcing his intentions to seek the presidency a third time, many have been speculating whether anybody will challenge the former president for the GOP nomination.
Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and former United Nations ambassador, has added fuel to these speculations with her recent comments at an event at Clemson University.
According to CBS News, while at an event sponsored by Turning Point USA, Haley opened the door to a possible presidential run.
“We are taking the holidays to kind of look at what the situation is,” the former South Carolina governor said, according to the network.
“If we decide to get into it, we’ll put 1,000 percent in, and we’ll finish it.”
These teasing statements seem to fly in the face of previous comments she made in April of 2021, when she declared that she would not run if Trump was a candidate, according to Fox News.
“I would not run if President Trump ran and I would talk to him about it. That’s something that we will have a conversation about at some point if that decision is something that has to be made. But yeah, I would, absolutely,” Haley said, Fox News reported.
Haley’s recent statements echo similar declarations she made last week at the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, according to CBS.
At the event, which featured 10 other prospective Trump challengers, Haley assured the attendees that her electoral track record was strong.
“I’ve never lost an election, and I’m not going to start now.”
Since she stepped down from her position at the U.N., Haley has made some moves that are thought to be telltale signs that she is building up a potential White House run.
Upon moving back to South Carolina, where she served for six years as governor, she started a political action committee and released a memoir, along with a policy book.
While Haley has publicly supported Trump in recent times, she has also leveled criticism on her former boss.
In the wake of the January 6, 2021 Capitol disturbance, Haley stated that Trump had been “badly wrong” for imploring people to protest the election results, CBS reported.
She also said that his “actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history,” according to the news network.
Haley is not the only former member of Trump’s administration who has seemingly softened their support of the former president.
Former vice president Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have also been tapped as likely Trump challengers for 2024.
While Trump has not addressed Haley’s comments directly as of yet, former Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich, who works for Trump’s PAC, MAGA Inc, dismissed a potential challenge.
It is “unfortunate to see politicians who President Trump made relevant use 2024 as life support for their political career,” Budowich said, according to CBS.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
