CHARLESTON, S.C. — Nikki Haley hardly mentioned her former political boss Donald Trump’s name Wednesday as she leaped into the race for president. But she made clear she represents a break from his style during her campaign kickoff.
“We’re ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past,” the 51-year-old former South Carolina governor said to cheering supporters in her home state. “And we are more than ready for a new generation to lead us into the future.”
In carefully calibrated remarks, Haley swiped overtly at Joe Biden, the oldest president to take the oath of office, and more subtly at Trump, a 76-year-old now waging his third quest for the White House since 2016.