Clemson alumna Nikki Haley announces run for president

Photo from @nikkihaley on Instagram

Former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley announced her campaign for the 2024 presidential race this week. Haley is a home-grown South Carolinian, a Clemson alumna, and was appointed to a lifetime position on Clemson University’s board of trustees in 2021. 

The formal announcement came Tuesday, Feb. 14 in the form of a video tweeted from Haley’s Twitter account. Haley’s tweet containing the video was retweeted over 3 thousand times within the first 24 hours, reaching more than 8.5 million viewers.

In the video, Haley proudly identifies as the daughter of Indian-American immigrants. She denies that the founding principles of the United States are “racist” or “evil”, and points to countries like Iran and China as examples of true “evil”. Haley reminds viewers of her faith in God following a mass shooting at a Church in Charleston in 2015 and urges viewers to turn toward God again. Haley argues for a “secure border” and “fiscal responsibility” while denigrating the “socialist left”.

In the first 24 hours after the early morning announcement, users posted over 85k tweets about Nikki Haley, with a total reach of over 4 million users. Sentiment during this period was 85% negative with many pointing out the unfortunate timing of the announcement, which came the morning after a deadly shooting at Michigan State University.

However, many were quick to voice their support for Haley, including Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina since 2003.

The most popular tweet from within South Carolina during the first 24 hours after the announcement was a video of Haley from more than a decade ago discussing her position on the Confederate Flag. Many users seemed to use the video in negative contexts to show their criticism of Haley’s past positions.

Many users debated the efficacy of Haley’s choice for her video’s closing line: That when she’s kicked by bullies, she kicks back, and it hurts them worse because she’s “wearing heels”. Reaction to this line in particular was largely negative on social media with over 94% of tweets expressing negativity. 

Don Lemon, anchor for CNN, became the 3rd most trending topic on Twitter on Thursday with 23.8k mentions after sparking outrage with his claim that Nikki Haley might be too old to be president, since a woman’s “prime” is “in her 20, 30s, and maybe 40s”. Haley is 51. Social media users – especially conservatives – were quick to come to Haley’s defense and to point out misogyny in Lemon’s comment. Lemon has since walked back his comments on his own Twitter account.

We at the SMLC look forward to covering our hometown candidate as she competes for the Republican nomination. For more information on Haley’s campaign kickoff, check out The Tiger covering Haley’s formal announcement and rally event Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at the Charleston Visitor Center.

Author: Molly Riddell