Haley faces ‘high-wire act’ in 2024 bid against Trump Turkey responds to earthquake in anger

By JUSTIN SPIKE and BERNAT ARMANGUE The Associated Press

When Zafer Mahmut Boncuk’s apartment building collapsed in Turkey’s devastating earthquake, he discovered his 75-year-old mother was still alive — but pinned under the wreckage.

For hours, Boncuk frantically searched for someone in the ancient, devastated city of Antakya to help him free her. He was able to talk to her, hold her hand and give her water. Despite his pleas, however, no one came, and she died on Tuesday, the day after the quake.

By MEG KINNARD and STEVE PEOPLES

The Associated Press

Few have navigated the turbulent politics of the Trump era like Nikki Haley.

In early 2016, the thenSouth Carolina governor said she was “embarrassed” by candidate Donald Trump and decried his reluctance to condemn white supremacists.

Nine months later, she agreed to join his Cabinet, serving as a key validator as Trump sought to win over skeptical world leaders and voters at home.

And shortly after Trump left the White House, Haley, whose resume by then included an ambassadorship to the United Nations, vowed not to step in the way if he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Yet on Wednesday, she is poised to become the first major Republican candidate to enter the race against him.

“It’s going to be quite the high-wire act,” said veteran Republican strategist Terry Sullivan. “She says she’s always been an underdog. She will be again.”

The 51-year-old Haley may be the first to take on Trump, but a half-dozen or more high-profile Republicans are expected to join the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination contest over the coming months.

Some would-be competitors may be more popular than Haley even in South Carolina, where she lives and has established a campaign headquarters.

Likely rivals include Sen. Tim Scott, a fellow South Car-

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“I think it’s very inclusive to have people come and have olinian and perhaps the most celebrated elected official in a state where Trump has already locked up endorsements from the governor and its senior senator, Lindsey Graham.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence could also be formidable foes should they run, as widely expected.

Indeed, on the eve of this week’s announcement, there is broad agreement that Haley — the only Republican woman of color expected in the 2024 contest, a politician who loves to remind people that she has never lost an election — is about to be tested as never before.

Trump has stepped up his attacks on Haley in recent weeks.

But allies describe the former governor, who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, as a savvy executive uniquely positioned to lead a new generation of Republicans. They understand that the fight ahead could get ugly.

“She took the bull by the horns and said, ‘That doesn’t matter to me, I’m going to run,’” said longtime supporter Gavin J. Smith. “She did that when she ran for governor, and that’s what you’re going to see when she runs for president.” fun and celebrate the day even though they don’t have a significant other,” Schreifeis said. Bill said she feels the most important type of friend is “someone you can rely on,” Isabella Hill. “Friend love is the best love.”

Perhaps more than anyone this young presidential primary season, Haley personifies the Republican Party’s shifting views on Trump.

Her reversal on whether to challenge the former president was based less on concerns about his divisive leadership or policy disagreements than the growing belief within the GOP that Trump is losing political strength.

Like many others in Turkey, his sorrow and disbelief have turned to rage over the sense there has been an unfair and ineffective response to the historic disaster that has killed tens of thousands of people there and in Syria.

Boncuk directed his anger at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially because she seemed so close to rescue but no one came.

Her remains were finally removed Sunday, nearly a week after the building collapsed. His father’s body is still in the rubble.

“What would happen if it was your own mother, dear Recep Tayyip Erdogan? What happened to being a world leader? Where are you? Where?” he screamed.

“I gave her water to drink, I cleared her face of rubble. I told her that I would save her. But I failed,” said Boncuk, 60. “The last time we spoke, I asked if I should help her drink some water. She said no, so I rubbed some water on her lips. Ten minutes later, she died.”

He blamed “ignorance and lack of information and care — that’s why my mother died in front of my eyes.”

Many in Turkey express similar frustration that rescue operations have been painfully slow since the Feb. 6 quakes and that valuable time was lost during the narrow window for finding people alive.

Others, particularly in southern Hatay province near the Syrian border, say Erdogan’s government was late in delivering assistance to the hardest-hit region for what they suspect are both political and religious reasons.

In the southeastern town of Adiyaman, Elif Busra Ozturk waited outside the wreckage of a building on Saturday where her uncle and aunt were trapped and believed dead, and where the bodies of two of her cousins already had been found.

“For three days, I waited outside for help. No one came. There were so few rescue teams that they could only intervene in places they were sure there were people alive,” she said.

At the same complex, Abdullah Tas, 66, said he had been sleeping in a car near the building where his son, daughterin-law and four grandchildren were buried.

He said that rescuers had first arrived four days after the earthquake struck. The Associated Press could not independently verify his claim.

“What good is that for the people under the debris?” he asked.

Onlookers stood behind police tape Saturday in Antakya as bulldozers clawed at a highrise luxury apartment building that had toppled onto its side.