Republican Governor Nikki Haley Credited Hillary Clinton With Inspiring Her to Run for Office

A major message that Hillary Clinton sent throughout her campaign was that she hopes more women get involved in politics so that we can eliminate the gender gap in DC. But that message long preceded the 2016 election. Trump’s UN Ambassador pick, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, is proof: In a 2012 interview, Haley told the New York Times says she ran for office because of Clinton. Slate resurfaced the interview in a recent column.

Haley had said women aren’t in office because they simply aren’t running. “It’s not because the challenge is too hard. It’s simply because women don’t run.”

Seeing another woman set the bar pushed her to change that. “The reason I actually ran for office is because of Hillary Clinton. Everybody was telling me why I shouldn’t run: I was too young, I had small children, I should start at the school board level. I went to Birmingham University, and Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker on a leadership institute, and she said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn’t but that’s all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking, ‘That’s it. I’m running for office.'”

Of course, that doesn’t mean Haley agrees with Clinton on everything. Earlier this year, she voiced a negative opinion of the presidential nominee: “President Obama was awful the last eight years — a President Clinton would be disastrous,” Haley said, not endorsing Trump but certainly urging fellow Republicans against his rival.

After the election, many women came forward and pledged to change the scope of politics by getting involved. “We have heard from women across the country who are raising their hands to be part of the solution,” the spokeswoman for Emily’s List, a committee that seeks to elect Democratic women, told The Washington Post.

Read more at Slate.com