Republican Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and a UN ambassador under Donald Trump, formally launched her campaign for president on Wednesday, calling on Americans to reject the “stale ideas and faded names of the past” and to instead put their faith in a “new generation” of political leaders.

Appearing publicly for the first time since declaring her candidacy, Haley, 51, cast herself as an agent of generational change who could transform a nation gripped by “doubt, division and self-destruction”.

Speaking in Charleston, amid chants of “Nikki”, Haley sketched a vision for a country that was “strong and proud, not weak and woke” as she sought to capitalize on her experience pursuing Trump’s “America first” agenda on the world stage.

“America is not past our prime. It’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” Haley said, in one of several references to the age of the nation’s leading politicians. She vowed term limits for members of Congress and “mental competency tests” for politicians over the age of 75, a population that includes both Joe Biden, who is 80, and Trump, who is 76.

Haley leaned heavily on her biography as the “proud daughter of Indian immigrants” raised in a small South Carolina town. As a “brown girl growing up in a black and white world,” she forcefully denounced the notion that America was “flawed, rotten and full of hate”.

“Take it from me, America is not a racist country,” she said, blaming Biden and vice president Harris for promoting a culture of “self-loathing” that she warned was a “virus more dangerous than any pandemic”.

Winning the presidency would also require Americans to do something they’ve never done, she said: “Sending a tough-as nails-woman to the White House.”

Even as Haley emphasized her boundary-breaking political career as the first governor of South Carolina who was neither white nor male and the first Indian American member of a presidential cabinet, she attempted to downplay the role of identity politics – a topic Republicans often try to weaponize against Democrats.

“This is not about identity politics,” she said. “I don’t believe in that. And I don’t believe in glass ceilings, either.”

Before Haley’s launch event, she earned the endorsement of South Carolina congressman Ralph Norman, a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus whose candidacy Trump backed in 2022.

Speaking in Charleston, Norman hailed the former governor as a defender of “true conservative values” unafraid to take on leaders in both parties.

“Nikki and I are Republicans,” he said. “But folks let me tell you something: we are conservatives first.”

The invocation was delivered by John Hagee, an evangelical pastor and stalwart ally of Trump who been denounced as homophobic, Islamophobic and antisemitic.

Democrats, meanwhile, sought to tie Haley to Trump and his “Maga extremism”. Jaime Harrison, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, who is from South Carolina, said Haley’s conservative record and allegiance to Trump should alarm voters.

“If she says that she wants to do for the nation what she did for South Carolina,” he told reporters on Tuesday, “God bless us all.”

But before Haley has a chance at possibly taking on the president, she will have to successfully dethrone Trump, her one-time boss, whose entrenched support poses a threat to any Republican challenger.

Haley had initially pledged not to run against Trump if he was a candidate. But she recently let Trump know that she had changed her mind and, in a sign he may benefit from a splintered field, he welcomed her to the race.

With her entrance into the race, Haley became the first prominent Republican to challenge the former president, but the field is expected to widen considerably.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is widely expected to run for president, as well as several other former Trump administration officials, including vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Former Maryland governor and vocal Trump critic Larry Hogan has also indicated interest while South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has also been mentioned as a possible contender.

In the end, Haley may not even be the only Republican politician from South Carolina to run – Senator Tim Scott is also reportedly weighing a White House bid.

Attempting to set herself apart, Haley leaned into her experience as UN ambassador on Wednesday, positioning herself as a champion of American strength on the global stage.

She was introduced by the mother of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died in 2017 shortly after being freed from captivity in North Korea. In her remarks, Cindy Warmbier, praised Haley’s persistence as UN ambassador to ensure his release. “We need Nikki Haley fighting for all our children the way she fought for Otto,” she said.

Haley continued this theme in her speech. “The dictators, murderers and thieves at the UN didn’t know what hit ’em,” she said, vowing to stand with America’s allies from “Israel to Ukraine”.

Amid frequent downings of aerial objects in recent weeks, including a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was downed off the South Carolina coast, Haley condemned China and the administration’s approach to challenging the global superpower.

“It is unthinkable that Americans would look at the sky and see a Chinese spy balloon looking back at us,” she said, vowing that under her leadership “communist China will end up on the ash heap of history”.

Early polling of the notional Republican primary field suggests she has a long way to climb. She draws the support of less than 4% of Republican primary voters, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average, well behind Trump, DeSantis and even Pence.

But Haley’s supporters pointed to her record of come-from-behind victories that saw her take down a 30-year-incumbent to win a seat in the South Carolina state legislature and later defy the odds to become governor.

“When you underestimate Nikki Haley, you’re making a mistake,” Katon Dawson, a former chairman of the Republican party, told the crowd.

In her remarks, Haley embraced the role of underdog. She noted that Republicans had lost the popular vote in seven of the previous eight presidential elections, declaring it time to elect new conservative messengers. “Our cause is right but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans,” she said.

And to her rivals, Haley said her message was simple: “May the best woman win.”