Nikki Haley brings forth a new approach to an old foe.
By: Samuel Bilotta
Whether you like her or not, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, will clearly play a role in the chess game of the 2024 Presidential Election. While I would love for her to run for President in 2024, I am not here to speculate whether or not she will run. While her intentions to run are purely speculative to us at this point, one thing is clear: she is using her “frontrunner” status to her advantage.
After retiring from public life at the end of 2018, Ambassador Haley remains hard at work on behalf of the American People. She founded a policy group known as “Stand For America,” which focuses on policy issues such as National Security, Fiscal Responsibility, and term limits for political offices. She has appeared on numerous talk shows and political programs to discuss this platform, most notably being “The Ben Shapiro Show.” Now, the policy group has a new focus: China.
Since the start of this pandemic, Ambassador Haley has arguably been one of the most outspoken politicians when it comes to holding China accountable. She has written an op-ed in the Washington Post, been interviewed by conservative icon Charlie Kirk regarding the subject, and just last night, she appeared on Fox’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
Along with all of this, she has started a petition to call on Congress to investigate the origins of COVID-19 as well as China’s handling of the virus. Haley’s petition, according to her website, also calls for critical supplies to be manufactured in America where they can be dispersed at the will of a democratic government, pay the necessary dues to the U.N. and other international organizations at the status of a developed country, and require American colleges and universities to disclose the funding they receive from the Chinese government. According to the petition’s website stopcommunistchina.com, the petition, as of May 7, has already garnered 329,792 signatures, which is pretty impressive considering it hasn’t been out too long.
So why is Haley doing all of this? The better question would be is why wouldn’t she? Ambassador Haley, during her tenure as UN Ambassador, championed the Trump Administration’s new efforts to hold China accountable for its unfair trade practices and theft of intellectual property. During this time of extreme uncertainty, in terms of both health and financials, targeting the supposed “enabler” of this virus is a very popular political move. Plus, as both a former U.S. Ambassador the U.N., and a potential frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024, Ambassador Haley has both the legitimacy and a unique opportunity to change the way the United States conducts relations with China.
Her valiant efforts to hold the P.R.C. accountable for this virus have been heard by the Trump Administration, as President Trump and his foreign policy team tries to build a coalition of countries to pass a resolution that would call on an investigation into China’s handling of the virus. Several Senators and House members have told media outlets that America’s stance on China needs to be revisited.
So like I said, whether favorable to her or not, she is definitely a strong player in the 2024 Presidential election, and she knows it. Going forward, I hope to see Ambassador Haley’s crusade garner the support it needs to finally implement some true reform on America’s dealings with China.
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