UPDATED: 15 FEB 2023 01:44 PM EST
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday highlighted the need for generational change and called for mandatory competency tests for politicians older than 75 during a speech launching her 2024 presidential campaign.
“In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire,” said Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador during Donald Trump’s presidency. “We’ll have term limits for Congress. And mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”
The remarks are an undeniable strike against her only declared opponent, 76-year-old Trump, as well as President Joe Biden, who at 80 is the oldest person to hold the office.
Haley, 51, repeatedly talked about leading America into the 21st century.
“We’re ready. Ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past, and we are more than ready for a new generation to lead us into the future,” she told the crowd gathered in Charleston, S.C. “America is not past our prime,” she added. “It’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” she added.
Haley officially announced her bid in a 3 1/2-minute video posted to Twitter on Tuesday that highlighted her accomplishments as governor and alluded to a need for new leadership in the GOP.
“Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. That has to change,” Haley said in the video.
On Wednesday, she reiterated that sentiment.
“Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans,” she said. “Well, that ends today. If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win not just as a party but as a country, stand with me.”
Haley, a first-generation Indian American, also highlighted her background as a woman of color, something likely to differentiate her in a GOP primary. If she wins the Republican nomination, she will be the first woman and first Asian American to do so.
“Every day we’re told America is flawed, rotten and full of hate,” Haley said on Wednesday. “Joe and Kamala even say America is racist. Nothing could be further from the truth. The American people know better. My immigrant parents know better.”
But being the first isn’t why she’s running, the former governor said.
“All kidding aside, this is not about identity politics. I don’t believe in that. And I don’t believe in glass ceilings, either,” Haley said. “I believe in creating a country where anyone can do anything and achieve their own American dream.”
The speech offered a glimpse into Haley’s foreign policy platform, particularly her stance on the U.S-China relationship, calling China the “strongest and most disciplined” enemy the U.S. has ever faced.
“It is unthinkable that Americans would look at the sky and see a Chinese spy balloon looking back at us,” Haley added. “China’s dictators want to cover the world in communist tyranny. And we are the only ones who can stop them.”
Though only the second candidate to enter the 2024 presidential race, Haley is polling behind two potential rivals for the nomination — Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to say whether he’ll enter the race.
