Nikki Haley Requests Secret Service Protection amid Rise in Threats

Haley, who is challenging Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, said her campaign has "had multiple issues" with security

Nikki Haley has requested U.S. Secret Service protection amid her 2024 presidential campaign, citing an increase in threats.

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tells The Wall Street Journal that her campaign has "had multiple issues" as it pertains to security threats.

The Republican presidential candidate, 52, told the outlet that the threats are “not going to stop me from doing what I need to do."

Related: Nikki Haley Makes Surprise Cameo During Saturday Night Live Cold Open: Watch

Speaking to NBC's Meet the Press last week, Haley opened up about a recent "swatting" attempt on her home in South Carolina, which took place while she was on the campaign trail but her elderly parents — who are 87 and 90 — were home with a caregiver.

"I will tell you that 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 the chaos that's surrounding our country right now."

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Haley said that she had participated in "150-something town halls, there are things that have happened, I've had threats made," but added: "It's what happens when you run for president, I can handle that."

Related: Emergency Crews Dispatched to White House Following Fake 911 Call

Haley — who is polling behind Republican frontrunner Donald Trump — is one of many political figures to see a rise in threats in recent years.

Lawmakers and election officials from around the country have opened about the often graphic death threats they received in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has continued to falsely claim was stolen from him.

Even the White House has been subject to prank swatting calls, and just last month, emergency crews were dispatched to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW following a 911 call in which a caller falsely claimed someone was trapped in the building, and that there was a fire.

Also in January, Judge Tanya Chutkan — the federal judge overseeing the election subversion case against Trump — was the victim of a similar swatting hoax at her Washington, D.C., home, CNN reported.

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