Nikki Haley calls for new generation of Republican leaders, vows to end the Washington status quo

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley kicked off her 2024 presidential campaign at a rally in Charleston, saying a new era of Republican leadership has begun. 

"Look at everything that's wrong in this country and tell me we don't need new leadership," she said Wednesday on "Hannity." "We have to leave the status quo. We have to leave this chaos behind. And we've got to start talking about the future."

Haley vowed to be a Washington outsider who is able to resonate with the everyday voter paying higher grocery bills, being laid off from work and worrying about their children's lost education due to the COVID pandemic. 

"I understand that you should not have Americans looking up at the sky and seeing a Chinese spy balloon looking back at them. This is insanity. And what we need are a lot of changes," she said. 

The former UN ambassador called for a number of reforms, including congressional term limits and competency tests for any elected official over the age of 75. 

"We've got to stop the spending addiction that is happening that is causing inflation to go up, and we need to start realizing that we don't need our politicians getting on TV and talking. We need the people in D.C. doing, and we need to spark a fire up under them. And that's what I'm willing to do," she told host Sean Hannity. 

Haley added that the Republican Party needs to expand its base to bring in the Hispanic, Jewish, Asian and African American communities and start speaking in a way that "[lifts] everybody up, not just a select few."

"DC is broken. It's been broken for a long time. We have to have the courage to walk away from the status quo, walk away from all the past problems and say, we are not going to leave this country to our children. We're going to make sure that we leave our country better for our children because they deserve it," she continued. 

Haley joins former President Donald Trump as the second GOP contender for the Republican nomination. 

TRUMP WELCOMES NIKKI HALEY INTO THE 2024 RACE: ‘THE MORE THE MERRIER’

When asked what specific policies she holds that differ from Trump, Haley responded saying she doesn't "kick sideways."

"I don't kick sideways. I'm kicking for Joe Biden as the president. He's the one I'm running against. And what I'm saying is you don't have to be 80 years old to be president. We don't need to have these same people going back again. We need something new. We need a new generation of fighters," she stated. 

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"We need people that understand what the American, your average American, is coming from. And we shouldn't be afraid to fight for that. And that's what I'm willing to do. I'm not going to kick sideways. I don't have time for that. That's not my focus. I'm kicking forward. It's all about Joe Biden and it's all about the people in America winning again."