Nikki Haley Discusses Presidential Bid, State of U.S. Politics at Georgetown Event

On Oct. 3, Georgetown's Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics) hosted Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, for a conversation about her experience and lessons from running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Haley sat down with Rick Wiley, a former senior advisor for Haley's presidential campaign and a 2024 GU Politics Fellow, and GU Politics Executive Director Mo Elleithee to discuss her decision to run for president, campaign strategy and building trust with voters.

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Haley said that her main concern in running for president was how the race would impact her family.

But at the end of the day, "The reason you do it is because you know you can make people's lives better," she said.

When Wiley asked about her campaign strategy during the Republican primary, Haley emphasized the importance of a consistent message and focusing on the issues to build trust with voters. She also shared how she focused on the other 12 candidates rather than solely on Donald Trump.

"The goal was slow and steady wins the race. You take out one at a time," she said of the other candidates. "On policy, if you look on the debate stage, I called him [Trump] out for spending. I called him out for certain things that happened. I had no problem doing that on policy. But I didn't need to go hit him as a person."

Georgetown students asked Haley about her experience as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Haley explained how she constantly communicated with other countries on the Security Council to keep herself updated on foreign affairs. She also spoke about the importance of national security in the digital age amid foreign intrusion from countries like Russia and China.

Katie Cheung (SFS'27), a member of the GU Politics Student Advisory Board, said she values the opportunity to see public servants like Haley participate in productive and respectful dialogue.

"I think I was personally drawn to hearing Ambassador Haley speak just because I think, being in the School of Foreign Service, her work abroad is interesting."

She said she appreciates that Georgetown has created "a space where they can receive unfiltered questions and have unrestricted dialogue in front of a whole crowd in a respectful way. I think that is the whole mission of GU Politics."

To close the conversation, Elleithee asked Haley what students dedicated to public service can do to make people like politics again. Haley stressed the importance of open and civil dialogue.

"Listen before you speak," Haley said. "Understand why someone thinks what they think. Usually it's because of an experience."