Nikki Haley Eyeing 2024 Presidential Run - Editorial Cartoonist

Now that Nikki Haley has announced that she's resigning from her post as the US ambassador to the United Nations, the 46-year-old South Carolina native is likely eyeing a bid for the 2024 presidential election, Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist, told Sputnik.
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US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Haley would be parting ways with the Trump administration at the end of the year, emphasizing that despite her departure, the pair would be "in constant touch."

"On behalf of the country, I want to thank you for a great job," Trump told Haley during their meeting at the Oval Office. "She's done a fantastic job, and we've done a fantastic job together."

"I expect you will appreciate my sense that returning from government to the private sector is not a step down but a step up," she wrote in her resignation letter.

​Though Haley told reporters that she had no intentions to throw her name into consideration for the 2020 presidential election, Rall told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear on Thursday that she was likely to dip her toes in the 2024 race.

"She says she's not running for president… I bet she's not running in 2020, but I think she's running for president in 2024," he told hosts Brian Becker and John Kiriakou. "As a woman of color, she's not really of the right party to run for president yet."

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"That's going to require her to have quite the [presidential] campaign… Republicans, a lot of forward-looking Republicans, are very enthusiastic about her; they really think that she's the great female hope for the GOP," Rall added.

Following the announcement of Haley's departure, various major media outlets offered their own special doses of praise for her efforts during her tenure as the American ambassador to the United Nations.

The Washington Post claimed Haley succeeded in promoting multilateralism at a time where the Trump administration opposed it. The New York Times, while acknowledging that the official did make some questionable decisions, followed in the Post's path, saying Haley would be missed and lauded for her relationships with diplomats.

"I think the only people who are going to be missing her are certain Democrats on the editorial boards of major American newspapers with close ties to the White House," Rall told Becker, after recalling how Haley reduced aid to Palestinians and pushed Trump's America First agenda, all while fiercely defending him.

"It is a ridiculous thing."

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Those on the shortlist to replace Haley include former Trump Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell and former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, according to CBS News.

It was also revealed this week that Haley will be departing the UN with a large chunk of debt. Though Haley's office stated that her resignation was not the result of her personal finances, it did note that her overall debt was less than $500,000, according to the Charleston Post Courier. Federal ethics reports from last year previously indicated that Haley's debt ranged from $525,000 to approximately $1.1 million in 2017.

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