Nikki Haley asks for Secret Service protection
Washington — Nikki Haley has asked for Secret Service protection, citing increasing threats she has received as she runs for the Republican presidential nomination against former President Donald Trump.
Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and now the lone major GOP candidate who is still challenging Trump, told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that her campaign has "had multiple issues."
"It's not going to stop me from doing what I need to do," she said.
A senior law enforcement official confirmed to CBS News that Haley's request was received by the Department of Homeland Security. The department declined to comment.
Haley is escorted by personal security at South Carolina campaign events, and local law enforcement is also present. The heightened security was not the norm for her campaign stops in Iowa and New Hampshire leading up to those nomination contests.
Last week, Haley told reporters that threats are a reality of running for president and indicated her campaign was beefing up security.
"Part of running for public life is that you're going to deal with the threats that are there," she said when CBS News asked about her security situation. "That's not going to deter me. Does it mean we have to put a few more bodies around this? Yes, that's fine. But at the end of the day, we're going to go out there and touch every hand. We're going to answer every question. We're going to make sure that we are there and doing everything that we need to it just as part of the game."
Haley was recently targeted by a swatting attempt, where a crime is falsely reported to bring law enforcement to a specific location. She told NBC's "Meet the Press" last month that she was not home, but her elderly parents were there with their caregiver.
"The last thing you want is to see multiple law enforcement officials with guns drawn pointing at my parents and thinking that something happened," she said. "It is an awful situation. It put the law enforcement officers in danger. It put my family in danger, and you know it was not a safe situation and that goes to show that the chaos that's surrounding our country right now."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's an independent candidate for president, said on social media that, "I sure hope they care about Nikki Haley's safety more than mine. I've requested three times — still denied. Good luck Nikki!"
Nicole Sganga and Brian Dakss contributed to this report.
