‘As a brown girl, I saw the promise of America unfold before me’: Nikki Haley
3 min read . Updated: 16 Feb 2023, 12:56 AM IST
Premium- Nikki Haley's formal declaration means she will be the first contender to join the contest against Donald Trump
- The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024.
Pitching for a strong and proud America, Indian-American Republican leader Nikki Haley said that as a brown girl growing up in a black-and-white world, she saw the "promise of America" unfold before her.
The 51-year-old- two-term Governor of South Carolina added, "I’m more confident than ever that we can make this vision real in our time – because that’s what I’ve seen my entire life. As a brown girl, growing up in a black-and-white world, I saw the promise of America unfold before me".
Haley, who was also US Ambassador to the United Nations stated, "Take it from me, America is not a racist country." From January 2017 to December 2018, she served as the 29th US ambassador to the United Nations.
Nikki Haley proudly flaunted her Indian heritage in her first public appearance as a White House hopeful. She said, " I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. "My parents left India in search of a better life. They found it in Bamberg, South Carolina – population, 2,500. Our little town came to love us, but it wasn’t always easy. We were the only Indian family. Nobody knew who we were, what we were, or why we were there".
Haley added in her speech, "I see America leading the world – in freedom and peace. But this vision isn’t just mine. It’s the core of our nation’s history and it called to my parents over fifty years ago".
Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina in 1972 to Sikh parents Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, who had emigrated from Punjab to Canada and then to the US in the 1960s.
Republican leader Nikki Haley formally launched her 2024 presidential bid on Wednesday. Casting herself as a younger and fresher alternative to the 20th century politicians like her one-time boss and former president Donald Trump. she said, "When America is distracted, the world is less safe... And today, our enemies think the American era has passed. They’re wrong. America is not past its prime. It’s just that our politicians are past theirs!
Haley's formal declaration means she will be the first contender to join the contest against Trump, who announced his third bid for the White House late last year.
And, before entering the presidential ballot, Haley has to win the Republican Party's presidential primary, which will start in January next year.
The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024.
US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has not yet indicated if he will seek reelection.
Biden, 80, is the oldest sitting US president.
Haley is the third Indian-American to run for the US presidency in three consecutive election cycles.
Bobby Jindal ran in 2016 and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020.
She is the second woman of colour to ever seek the Republican Party's nomination for the White House.
The first was Angel Joy Chavis Rocker, a school counsellor from Florida, who entered the 2000 presidential race, becoming the first African-American to do so.