‘I think I can be that leader’: SC’s Nikki Haley further fuels speculation of 2024 run

Nearly two years ago, Nikki Haley told South Carolina reporters she wouldn’t run for president in 2024 should former President Donald Trump seek another term.

But in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier Thursday night, the former South Carolina governor further fueled speculation that a 2024 presidential run is in her future. She made the comments roughly a week before Trump visits South Carolina for his first public event of the year in the early-voting state

“I don’t think you need to be 80 years old to go be a leader in D.C.,” Haley told Baier. “I think we need a young generation to come in step up and really start fixing things.”

During the interview she pointed to inflation, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and high crime as to why the country needs a new direction.

“Do I think I could be that leader?” Haley posited.

“Yes, but we are still working through things, and we’ll figure it out,” she said.

Haley, who served nearly two terms as South Carolina’s first female governor before she stepped down in 2017 when Trump nominated her to be his ambassador to the United Nations, has remained coy since her 2024 admission to reporters two years ago.

During a 2021 visit to South Carolina State University, Haley said she would not run for the White House in 2024 if Trump ran. But she has since dropped hints of a possible presidential bid.

At a Christians United for Israel event in July, she said any deal signed by President Joe Biden with Iran over that country’s nuclear program needs to be shredded by the next president, adding “sometimes it takes a woman.”

In November, at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas, Haley said she was looking at running for president in a “serious way.”

“When people underestimate me, it’s always fun. But I’ve never lost an election. And I’m not gonna start now,” Haley said at that event.

During a visit to Clemson University in November, she said would be taking the holidays to make a decision on a run.

“If we decide to get into it, we’ll put 1,000% in, and we’ll finish it,” Haley said.

During Thursday’s interview, Haley was pressed on whether she would be launching an exploratory committee.

“We’re leaning in in a big way. We’re focused on it. Stay tuned, it’ll be fun,” Haley said.