GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley met with loud chants of 'Trump! Trump! Trump!' after CPAC speech

• Nikki Haley was one of the few 2024 GOP presidential contenders to deliver a speech at CPAC.
• As she exited the conference following her speech, CPAC attendees began chanting Trump's name.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — Fresh off of delivering a speech to a room full of conservative activists, 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley was quickly reminded of former President Donald Trump's influence over her party.

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who served for nearly two years as US Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, recently became the first major Republican to challenge the former president for the GOP nomination.

And she was one of the few potential presidential contenders to attend CPAC amid allegations of sexual assault against Matt Schlapp, the chief organizer of the conference.

Haley delivered a version of her stump speech, including jabs at "wokeness," a shout-out to her idea of "mandatory mental competency tests" for politicians over 75, and highlighting her status as a conservative woman of color who's the daughter of immigrants.

But after her speech, as Haley walked through the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, she was met with loud chants of "Trump! Trump! Trump!" as she took photos with a relatively small group of supporters.

Even as she's become the first to explicitly challenge Trump for the nomination, Haley has largely avoided directly criticizing the former president. As CPAC attendees yelled the president's name in her direction, the former governor appeared largely unfazed, continuing to take photos while ignoring questions from the media.

Trump for his part, has highlighted Haley's prior pledge not to run against him in 2024, even as he's urged the former governor to "follow her heart" on the campaign.