Republican presidential candidates

June 6, 2023 — 2024 Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visits South Carolina; campaign trail updates from Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC); and much more.

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has suggested that United States forces "need to align" with non-European countries including Russia to enhance global security, a remark that comes amid the Biden administration's approval for millions more in military aid to assist Ukraine in fending off Russia's invasion. Haley's response came Wednesday to a question from a WMUR-TV reporter on regions of the world to which she felt the U.S. could pay more attention. A campaign spokesman said Haley misspoke. The U.S. has been upping its military aid to Ukraine as Russia's invasion enters its 16th month. In late May, President Joe Biden approved a new aid package that totals up to $300 million.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is wrapping up his first tour of early voting states as a presidential candidate, showcasing his personal side in South Carolina with a lighthearted sit-down with his wife and an emotional moment with a military spouse. DeSantis, whose whirlwind tour this week included stops in Iowa and New Hampshire, used his first stop Friday morning in Bluffton to respond to knocks from Donald Trump, who boasted that he could accomplish in six months what would take the governor eight years. DeSantis told voters it can't be done "in 24 hours or six months or anything like that" but described the mission of the next Republican president as "trench warfare."

Nikki Haley's husband will soon begin a yearlong deployment with the South Carolina Army National Guard to Africa. The mission will encompass most of the remainder of his wife's campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The National Guard told The Associated Press Wednesday that a formal deployment ceremony will likely happen in several weeks. It'll be Michael Haley's second active-duty deployment since he joined the Guard as an officer in 2006.

Sen. Tim Scott joins a growing list of GOP presidential primary contenders and is the second from South Carolina.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Wednesday pledged to sign a federal ban on abortion but again did not set down a marker for what timeline such a proposal should encompass. Haley suggested during remarks in Manchester, New Hampshire, that passing one would be highly unlikely without significantly more Republicans in Congress. The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said "no one has been honest" about how difficult a ban could be to achieve.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has launched his presidential campaign. At an event in his hometown of North Charleston on Monday, Scott offered an optimistic message he hopes can contrast the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early GOP primary field: former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott is the Senate's only Black Republican. His team acknowledges the challenge but notes that the political environment can change, that Scott won reelection by a commanding 20 points in November and that he has more money to start his campaign than any presidential candidate in history.

South Carolina Republicans have selected Drew McKissick as their chairman for a fourth term at a convention where some of the party's 2024 presidential hopefuls made pitches to voters in the first-in-the-South primary state. McKissick has led the party since 2017 in a state where the GOP holds all statewide-elected positions, all but one U.S. House seat and control of both legislative chambers. He defeated three challengers. Among the 2024 GOP presidential contenders, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy addressed the convention, while former President Donald Trump, Sen. Tim Scott and a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent videos.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina made it official Friday: He's running for president. The Senate's only Black Republican has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Committee declaring his intention to seek his party's nomination. His candidacy will test whether a more optimistic vision of America's future can resonate with GOP voters who have elevated partisan brawlers in recent years. The deeply religious 57-year-old former insurance broker has made his grandfather's work in the cotton fields of the Deep South a bedrock of his political identity. Scott is scheduled to make a formal announcement on Monday in his hometown of North Charleston.

Sen. Tim Scott says he's nearly ready to reveal his decision on entering the 2024 presidential race. The South Carolina Republican said Sunday during a town hall in Charleston that he would make an announcement May 22. Scott has been inching ever closer to formally entering the GOP race, where he would join other announced candidates, including former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who appointed Scott to the Senate. Scott has created an exploratory committee and visited other early voting states. Scott has tried to present a more positive vision for the future than many of his potential GOP rivals.