Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has applied for Secret Service protection in the wake of increasing threats she has received, she confirmed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
“We’ve had multiple issues,” the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador told the newspaper, adding, “It’s not going to stop me from doing what I need to do.”
A request for Haley’s protection has been submitted to federal officials, and her campaign is thinking about how more intense security would affect her campaign schedule and travels, according to the report. Haley’s work at the United Nations involving Iran could also be a factor.
Her campaign didn’t immediately respond to a query seeking additional details about the threats she has received.
Late last week in Columbia, South Carolina, a woman was tackled by a member of Haley’s private security detail when she tried to rush the stage. There have also been protesters in recent days at her events upset about her support for Ukraine and Israel, The Wall Street Journal noted.
Haley was asked at a news conference late last week about greater levels of security at her events in South Carolina, which will hold the next seriously contested GOP primary on February 24, as compared with those in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“When you do something like this, you get threats. It’s just the reality,” she told reporters, adding there has been the need to “put a few more bodies around us,” but that it hadn’t affected her campaigning.
Haley is the last remaining challenger to former US President Donald Trump, who has won both the Iowa caucuses and Republican primary in New Hampshire, placing him in good position to win the Republican nomination.
Despite this, Haley has clarified she has no intention of stepping down. Last week, she vowed to stay in the Republican presidential primary race at least through Super Tuesday, adding she expects to perform better in her home state of South Carolina than in the Iowa Republican caucus and the New Hampshire primary.