Republican Nikki Haley is meticulously laying the foundation for a presidential bid in 2024, forming a nonprofit organization to sustain her political-rock-star profile while she builds a financial nest egg so her family can afford her political ambitions.
Party insiders keeping tabs on Haley say the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations wouldn’t challenge her old boss, President Trump, in the 2020 primary. But the dynamic ex-South Carolina governor, just 47, is expected to mount a campaign four years later. With a coterie of advisers, Haley is choosing each step to maximize her notoriety and chart a course to the White House.
Amid quiet maneuvering, Haley’s immediate priority is making money. Neither Haley nor her husband are wealthy. With two children now of college age, Republicans familiar with Haley’s planning say her desire to put family first is a practical necessity, not a cliche.
“She is tending to family and personal savings and staying engaged politically. She said all those things and meant them,” said Tucker Eskew, a veteran South Carolina political hand viewed in GOP circles as an informal Haley adviser, although he resists the label. “If the opportunity presented itself to take it the next level, no one is better positioned or prepared on political scene, today, that I know.”
Haley in February launched Stand For America, a political nonprofit group, ostensibly to provide her a platform to influence national policy. This week, Haley via Twitter promoted a Stand For America missive advocating for congressional term limits, a proposal popular with the conservative grassroots. A few days earlier, Haley retweeted a Stand For America post urging the U.S. to pressure China to help denuclearize North Korea.
Stand For America provides Haley a mechanism to interact with the lawmakers, conservative thought leaders, grassroots activists, and major Republican donors she’ll need in her corner if she runs for president. Even if Trump gets re-elected, aggressive jockeying to succeed him atop the GOP would begin in just three years.
Haley spokeswoman Chaney Denton said Haley “has always loved policy” and founded Stand For America to “make sure she always has a voice” on domestic and foreign policy. But GOP operative Terry Sullivan, a veteran of South Carolina politics who in 2016 advised Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. — whom Haley endorsed — said the new organization is essentially a stalking horse for Haley 2024. “Absolutely, 100 percent, no doubt about it,” he said. – READ MORE