Cronkite school of journalism at
Arizona state university.
Geoff: Former ambassador Nikki
Haley announced her candidacy
for president today, the first
Republican to challenge former
president Donald Trump for the
2020 four GOP nomination.
Lisa Desjardins explains how she
got here.
>> It's time for a new
generation of leadership.
Lisa: With a three minute video,
former South Carolina governor
Nikki Haley launched a
long-speculated bid for the
white house.
The former U.N. Ambassador
diplomatically but clearly
sought contrast with her former
boss and now primary opponent,
Donald Trump.
>> Republicans have lost the
popular vote in seven of the
last eight presidential
elections.
That has to change.
Lisa: The daughter of Indian
immigrants, Haley made history
in 2010 as the first woman and
first person of color elected
governor in the palmetto state.
She led it following the
massacre at the historic African
American mother Emanuel church
in 2015.
A white supremacist killed nine
black parishioners.
>> You are going to see all of
us try to lift these nine
families up in prayer.
Lisa: Reversing her position,
Haley then pushed through the
removal of the confederate flag
from state capitol grounds.
>> The confederate flag is
coming off the grounds of the
South Carolina state house.
Lisa: Now a national name, Haley
backed a floridian who was not
Donald Trump in 2016.
>> Our next president will be
Marco Rubio!
Lisa: This started a nuanced
relationship with trump, whose
tone on immigrants she seemed to
criticize in her state of the
union response that year.
>> It can be tempting to follow
the siren call of the angriest
voices.
We must resist that temptation.
Mr. Trump: Nikki Haley, a very
nice woman, she said I'm an
angry person, and they said to
me, they said you were an angry
person.
I thought, I said, I am, I am
very angry because I hate what's
happening to our country. I am
angry.
Lisa: But ultimately Haley would
support trump and he would hire
her as ambassador to the U.N.
And unlike others in his orbit,
she left white house on her own
terms and in good standing.
>> It's been the honor of a
lifetime.
Mr. Trump: We will be speaking
all the time but we will miss
you nevertheless.
Lisa: In the time since, Haley
has walked a tightrope of high
praise and soft criticism of
trump.
After the January 6 attack, she
said he would be judged harshly
for his role.
>> The actions the president had
since election day were not his
finest.
Lisa: But later that year, she
backed him as the leader and the
future of the party.
>> I would not run if president
trump ran.
Lisa: But he is running and so
is she, highlighting her foreign
policy record with notable words
>> I don't put up with bullies.
Lisa: And wading into the
identity issues that trump has
stressed, raising the New York
Times' 1619 project on slavery,
a flashpoint on the right.
>> Some think our ideas are not
just wrong, but racist and evil.
Nothing could be further from
the truth.
Lisa: Haley will hold a campaign
kickoff event tomorrow in
Charleston before heading to
Iowa and New Hampshire.
For the pbs newshour, I'm Lisa
Desjardins.
Geoff: We are going to talk more
about what Nikki Haley brings to
the 2024 presidential race.
Whit Ayres is a Republican
strategist and the president of
northstar opinion research.
He has consulted for Republican
candidates including senators
Marco Rubio and Lindsey graham
and Florida governor Ron
Desantis.
It's great to have you here.
It strikes me that the central
idea behind a Nikki Haley
candidacy is she can attract a
different kind of Republican
primary voter, expand the
Republican base, and carve out a
lane for herself.
Is that realistic?
Can she do that?
>> We are going to find out.
She has a lot to sell.
She is a popular former governor
of one of the earliest GOP
primary states.
She showed leadership chops with
the dylann roof massacre and
taking down of the confederate
flag you showed in the intro.
She is one of few people who
went into the trump
administration and emerged with
an enhanced reputation and in
the process got foreign policy
experience.
Demographically she separates
herself from most of the
potential candidates.
She is relatively well known
among primary voters, about
three quarters have heard of
her.
It is not Mike pence or Ron
Desantis level, but it is more
than the others.
She can make a pretty good case
at age 51 that it's time, as
John F. Kennedy said, for a new
generation of leadership.
She has a lot to sell.
Geoff: She took a jab at Donald
Trump without naming him in her
announcement, noting he failed
to win the popular vote in
either of his campaigns.
How does Nikki Haley confront,
navigate, or sidestep the trump
factor?
>> It is a challenge and will be
a challenge for every one of the
potential candidates as they go
forward.
One thing is clear, you cannot
run for a GOP nomination in
2024, without running against
Donald Trump.
There is a never trump faction
but that is only about 10% of
the party.
There is an always trump faction
, a group who will walk through
flame for him and follow him
anywhere, including an
independent candidacy against
Ron Desantis or Joe Biden.
28% of Republicans would vote
for him, which would put a
Democrat in the white house.
The largest portion of the party
is maybe trump.
Those are people who voted for
him twice, supported him as
president, but are interested in
an alternative who looks more
like a winner and carries less
baggage.
That's the group she is going
for.
Geoff: You did some polling
recently and you found
Republican voters who don't
necessarily dislike Donald Trump
but think other people dislike
Donald Trump and think he is not
electable and that's why they
are looking for someone else.
>> That's right, they have heard
their friends cannot stand
Donald Trump, are never going to
vote for him.
That's why they think he might
not be electable.
They are looking for someone who
could be in the white house for
eight years rather than four,
which is what trump would be in
for if elected.
They are reluctant to admit they
don't like trump, but they want
somebody who is going to be a
different sort of candidate who
is less confrontational and has
a better chance to win.
Geoff: Can Ron Desantis on the
mantle of trump-ism who want
trump policy?
>> We are going find out.
In many ways Ron Desantis is
trump without the crazy.
That's what the campaign is
going to be about, who can
capture people who liked trump
in the past but want a different
candidate in the future.
Geoff: Thanks for being here,