Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has asked for Secret Service protection amid an uptick in threats as she continues her bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Haley confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that she had applied for the support after reporters questioned an increase in security at her campaign events. She is the last serious challenger to former President Donald Trump in the Republican primaries.
“We’ve had multiple issues,” Haley told the Journal after an event in her native South Carolina. “It’s not going to stop me from doing what I need to do.”
She told reporters last week it was “just the reality” that candidates get threats when running for office, “and that’s OK.”
“Part of running for public life is that you’re going to deal with the threats that are there. That’s not going to deter me,” Haley said, according to CNN. “Does it mean we have to put a few more bodies around us? Yes, that’s fine.”
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, has been targeted twice in so-called “swatting” attempts in recent months. On New Year’s Day, a caller told police that Haley’s daughter had been shot, but authorities recognized the call as a hoax. Members of Haley’s security detail tackled a woman at an event last week after she tried to rush the stage, the Journal reported.
Secret Service protection is usually granted to major presidential or vice presidential candidates in the final months of a general election, but the Department of Homeland Security has occasionally identified those who qualify for protection earlier. Then-Sen. Barack Obama was given protection in May 2007, CNN noted.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent, has also requested Secret Service protection, although that request has not been granted. Kennedy’s father was killed while running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, and President John F. Kennedy, his uncle, was assassinated in 1963.
