Haley to Speak on “State of the Race”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Feb. 20, 2024) — Various news outlets on Monday reported 2024 Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley, the only primary opponent to Donald Trump remaining, will give a “State of the Race” speech from her home state of South Carolina at noon on Tuesday.

In January Haley placed third in the Iowa Republican caucuses and second in the New Hampshire primary but has insisted she will remain in the race, at least through “Super Tuesday” on March 5.

On Sunday, Fox News aired a pre-recorded townhall with Haley in which she took questions directly from the audience in Columbia, South Carolina.

Haley served as a South Carolina legislator and later, as the state’s governor from January 2011 to January 2017, when Trump nominated her for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The U.S. Senate confirmed her in a 96-4 vote, and she served for just short of two years.

In 2021 she pledged not to seek the presidency if Trump were to run again. However, in February of last year, she declared herself a presidential candidate.

Throughout her campaign Haley, who turned 52 last month, has remained emphatic that she is the more viable candidate as opposed to Trump, who will be 78 before the November 5 election and on the Democrat side, Joe Biden, who will be 82 shortly after Election Day and is seen by many, including Special Counsel Robert Hur, to have a faulty memory.

Haley has argued that of the 14 initial Republican primary candidates, “I just have one more fella to catch up to,” meaning Trump, where several polls show he holds a commanding lead over her in her home state.

South Carolina’s Republican primary is Saturday, while its Democrat primary was held February 3.

Haley’s Tuesday address will be made from Clemson University, her alma mater, in Clemson, approximately six hours before a scheduled rally in a different location on campus. Her event calendar does not contain her noon address but shows two engagements each day prior to Saturday.