CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) 鈥� launched her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday with a call for generational change in Washington and a rejection of what she derided as 鈥渋dentity politics鈥� dividing the United States.
Speaking from the historic coastal city of Charleston, the former and U.N. ambassador struck themes intended to resonate with the Republican voters she will court as the first major GOP challenger to former President .
She blasted President and his fellow Democrats as too liberal and insisted there's not a problem with racism in the U.S. as they contend. But there were occasional notes that could appeal beyond the GOP base, including appeals for unity and criticism of corporate bailouts.
Haley, who is 51, said that Republicans have repeatedly lost the popular vote in recent elections because they 鈥渇ailed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans.鈥� The solution, she said, was to 鈥減ut your trust in a new generation.鈥�
鈥淎merica is not past its prime,鈥� she told a crowd of several hundred people gathered near Charleston鈥檚 visitors center. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just that our politicians are past theirs.鈥�
That was an obvious knock on Biden, who, at 80, is the , a fact that makes even some Democrats uneasy. But it was also a slight of Trump, who has launched a third White House bid and remains popular with wide swaths of Republican voters. Trump is 76 and has had an with Haley from the early days of the 2016 campaign through her time in his administration.
Haley said she would support a 鈥渕andatory mental competency test for politicians over 75 years old.鈥�
While Haley is the first major Republican to officially challenge Trump, she will hardly be the last. Florida Gov. , former Vice President and former Secretary of State are among those expected to launch campaigns in the coming months. Haley鈥檚 fellow South Carolinian Sen. is also weighing a White House bid.
At a time when Biden is holding together a Western alliance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and facing scrutiny for his handling of unidentified aerial objects, Haley leaned into the national security credentials she said she gained at the U.N. Among the speakers who introduced her was the mother of , an American college student who was imprisoned in North Korea and died shortly after his release.
In her remarks, Haley criticized Biden's presiding over the chaotic withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, North Korea's launch of missiles, heightened Russian aggression and an emboldened China.
鈥淭oday our enemies think that the American era has passed," she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e wrong.鈥�
As the presidential primary season comes into focus, the biggest question is whether anyone in the field will be able to push Trump from his position at the top of a party that he transformed with his first campaign in 2016. Though he enjoys enduring support with some Republican voters, he's been blamed by some party officials for the GOP鈥檚 lackluster performance in last year鈥檚 midterms.
As in 2016, a crowded field could work to Trump鈥檚 advantage, allowing him to march to the nomination while his opponents divide support among themselves.
In an interview with , Trump said he was glad Haley is running.
鈥淚 want her to follow her heart 鈥� even though she made a commitment that she would never run against who she called the greatest president of her lifetime," he said.
Pence hasn't yet announced a campaign. But during a visit Wednesday to the early voting state of Iowa, he said she did a 鈥済reat job鈥� when she worked in the Trump administration.
鈥淚 wish her well,鈥� Pence said. "She may have more company soon in the race for president, and I promise folks here in Iowa and all of you I鈥檒l keep you posted.鈥�
During a visit to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, another possible presidential contender, said Haley's announcement was highly anticipated.
鈥淪o we'll let her have her day,鈥� Noem said.
During her launch, Haley made clear that she would seek to distinguish herself in the GOP field in part by emphasizing her biography. She spoke of growing up in a small South Carolina town as the daughter of immigrants who experienced racist taunts. Still, she insisted that America was not a 鈥渞acist country.鈥�
鈥淭his self loathing is a virus more dangerous than any pandemic,鈥� she said.
But the nation's complicated experience with race was hard to dismiss. As Haley spoke, a white racist who killed 10 Black people last year at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, was without parole.
And the very venue from which Haley spoke was just a few blocks from Mother Emanuel AME Church, where nine Black parishioners were murdered in 2015 by a self-avowed who had been pictured holding Confederate flags. One of the survivors, Felicia Sanders, was in attendance Wednesday. Sanders鈥� son Tywanza was killed in the massacre.
The Charleston shooting was a defining moment of Haley's governorship. For years, she resisted calls to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, even portraying a rival鈥檚 push for its removal as a desperate stunt. But after the church shootings and with the support of other leading Republicans, Haley advocated for legislation to remove the flag. It came down less than a month after the murders.
A campaign video that Haley released on Tuesday referred to the shooting, but made no reference to her work to remove the flag.
In unveiling her campaign in Charleston, Haley sought to show some strength in her home state, which holds a critical early primary that influences the GOP nomination. Ahead of Wednesday's event, Rep. Ralph Norman 鈥� whom Trump backed in the 2022 midterm elections 鈥� became the first House member from South Carolina to publicly endorse Haley.
Those in the crowd said they were excited by the prospect of a Haley presidency. Retiree Connie Campbell said she was all in for the former governor, who she said has 鈥済ot so much to offer.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 very experienced in politics and as a family person, a mother, a wife,鈥� said Campbell, noting her admiration for the way Haley led South Carolina through tragedies including the Charleston shooting. 鈥淪he had a lot to go through as our governor.鈥�
If elected, Haley would be the first woman as well as woman of color to assume the presidency, a historic fact that she embraced 鈥� to an extent. She said she rejects identity politics and also doesn't believe in 鈥済lass ceilings.鈥� That phrase became popular in politics when Hillary Clinton conceded to Barack Obama after a bitter primary fight in 2008, noting that she wasn't yet able to 鈥渟hatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling.鈥�
Still, Haley wore white on stage in a nod to the suffragette movement and leaned into gender as she wrapped up her remarks.
鈥淎s I set out on this new journey, I will simply say this 鈥� may the best woman win,鈥� she said to roars of approval.
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Price reported from New York. Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Stephen Groves in Washington contributed to this report.
Meg Kinnard And Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
