CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina's Republican presidential primary flickered to life Thursday night when former Gov. Nikki Haley took the stage in Charleston, where she addressed a room full of GOP voters who, at times, struggled to hide their own hopes about her political future.
One man jumped to his feet at the end of Haley's 25-minute speech.
"That is our next president of the United States of America," the Rev. Robert Julius Reid exclaimed, pointing to the stage where Haley had just stood.
Attendees at the Citadel Republican Society's annual Patriot Dinner — a well-known stop for politicians seeking higher office — agreed. They responded to Reid's proclamation with thunderous applause.
During her remarks, Haley rattled off a list of accomplishments, both as governor of South Carolina and as the United Nations ambassador for two years under former President Donald Trump.
Haley mentioned Trump twice in her speech, a move that suggests she may be trying to chart a political path that is connected to, but not dependent on, her ties to the former president.
When she did mention Trump by name, Haley credited both him and the GOP for building what she called "one of the hottest economies in American history" during "the Trump years."
The only other nod came when Haley reaffirmed one of Trump's famous campaign promises, when she said, "It's time to build the wall."
Haley's speech oscillated between sharp one-liners and hopeful depictions of a brighter future with Republicans back in control of Congress and the White House.
"Joe Biden is the greatest gift to America's enemies since Jimmy Carter," Haley said, drawing an elongated "ooh" from the crowd.
"And just like Carter," Haley continued, "we're gonna make sure that Joe is a one-term president. You mark my words."
But she wouldn't say who should be at the top of that future Republican ticket, even when the audience seemed ready to pick her.
"Everybody was pretty confident she was running for president while she was still governor, so I wouldn't say it's too early," said Scott Huffmon, a political scientist at Winthrop University.
But there are other signs, some of them literal, that underscore the difficult road Haley could face, given Trump's continued popularity within the party. At the same event where Haley spoke, a booth set up by the Citadel Republican Society displayed a large Trump 2024 banner, along with rows and rows of Trump hats.
Early polling also shows Haley currently trails other potential 2024 contenders, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence. Haley has also said she won't run for president in 2024 if Trump decides to run again.
Haley still in national spotlight
Since her departure from the Trump administration in 2019, Haley has remained in the national political spotlight.
She is a frequent guest on conservative TV news outlets and an avid social media user who frequently weighs in on domestic and foreign policy.
She has published her second memoir, set up a political action committee to support Republican candidates in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections and has used her star-power to help fund-raise for Republican candidates across the country. She has headlined GOP events in the other early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Together, these actions have also kept speculation alive about Haley's next possible political steps.
And the speech in her home state, which was her first public political event in South Carolina since leaving her post at the U.N., was a chance for her to reintroduce herself to Republicans in the Palmetto State.
"This is a way for her to kind of make it known that she ticks every box, that she's not just a former Southern conservative governor, but she's also got international experience and that she can also dish it out to Biden and the Democrats in Congress," Huffmon predicted ahead of Haley's speech to the Citadel Republican Society in Charleston.
It was also a chance for others to praise the possible presidential candidate.
Outgoing Charleston city councilman Harry Griffin said he would keep his remarks short because he knew "we have at least one future president of the United States in this room tonight, and I know you all want to hear from her."
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., did not attend in-person but recorded remarks that were streamed at the event. He predicted Haley will play significant a role in the GOP and said she was not only a strong governor but "such a terrific candidate."
"I'm a big fan," Graham said. "And when it comes to Nikki Haley, the best is yet to come."
And so, in the early voting state famous for its near-perfect track record of picking GOP presidential nominees, Haley made her pitch.
She promised Republicans will win in both 2022 and 2024. She repeatedly ridiculed Biden and declared, "Joe Biden and today's Democratic Party don't even believe in America."
Her home state, she said, can lead the way as a place "where patriotism matters, where people are proud to be Americans."
"South Carolina shows the way, as it so often does," Haley said. "It doesn't matter what outsiders say. Our state is in touch with the heart of America."
Haley later referenced two of the darkest chapters in South Carolina's modern history, which both took place in 2015: the police shooting of Walter Scott and the racially charged mass shooting at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church.
"We didn't turn on each other. We came together to heal and make hard choices about our future," she said.
At last year's Citadel Republican Society fundraiser, Vice President Mike Pence headlined the event. In 2015, before Trump was president, he attended and addressed cadets and influential Republicans.
Like Pence and Trump, Haley also received the Nathan Hale Patriot Award, an honor that comes along with a replica Revolutionary War musket. She's the first woman to receive the award and had a broad smile as she held it.
The importance of receiving the award from The Citadel Republican Society, which advertises itself online as "the largest Republican club in the South," was not lost on Haley.
"I don't just appreciate what it represents. I profoundly respect who gave it to me," she said.
And South Carolina, the place Haley calls home and the first-in-the-South presidential primary state, will forever be a special place for Haley, she affirmed without mentioning 2024.
"Everything I am, everything I will ever be," Haley said, letting that idea about her future linger, "was shaped by the people of the Palmetto State."
