Waiting for 2028: Nikki Haley Joins Washington Think Tank After Failed Presidential Run

Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley is joining Hudson Institute as the Walter P. Stern chair, the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank announced on April 15. The former governor of South Carolina and the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N is the fourth member of Trump’s administration to join Hudson, according to The Guardian. 

“When our policymakers fail to call out our enemies or acknowledge the importance of our alliances, the world is less safe. That is why Hudson’s work is so critical,” read a statement from the former governor of South Carolina and the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. “They believe the American people should have the facts and policymakers should have the solutions to support a secure, free, and prosperous future. I look forward to partnering with them to defend the principles that make America the greatest country in the world.”

The Hill notes that “the post will allow her to keep a notable profile as she mulls a second presidential bid for 2028.” 

Hudson President and CEO John P. Walters called Haley “a proven, effective leader on both foreign and domestic policy.” He said that despite the “worldwide political upheaval,” Haley has “remained a steadfast defender of freedom and an effective advocate for American security and prosperity.”

Haley suspended her presidential campaign in March, after suffering a major loss in the Super Tuesday primaries, despite winning Vermont and Washington, D.C. On the campaign trail, Haley had pitched herself as the best opportunity to move on from the former president. She spent the last several weeks of her campaign stepping up her attacks on both Trump and President Biden, especially their age, and called for a new generation of leaders to move on from both of them. She pointed to polling that showed her performing the strongest of all the top Republican presidential candidates against Biden in hypothetical general election match-ups.  

She also went after Vice President Kamala Harris, warning South Carolina voters that the United States would soon have a female president: either Haley or Harris She attacked Trump during the race on various issues including the rising national debt during his presidency and his foreign policy stances. “Chaos follows Trump,” she repeatedly said. 

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But as As NPR noted, at times she “appeared to struggle with her messaging as she straddled the difficult line between pleasing the Republican base and appealing to independents, moderate Republicans and other voters who are disaffected with Trump.” One of her most notable gaffes is when she failed to identify slavery as the cause of the Civil War when questioned during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. She, however, quickly walked back. 

She also stumbled in her response to a controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling that threatened access to the fertility procedure in vitro fertilization, or IVF. “Embryos, to me, are babies,” she told NBC’s Ali Vitali. But in a later interview with Newsman, she clarified that “you don’t want to take those fertility treatments away from women.”

She surprised many when she started to gain significant momentum late last year. Although she surpassed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in most polls, she was unable to overtake the former president, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate.