Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley ventured onto Donald Trump stomping grounds on Friday, seeking support from rank-and-file Republicans who are “tired of losing”.

In remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside of Washington DC, Haley presented herself as the face of a “new generation” of Republican leaders, making her pitch to a crowd still largely wed to Trump, her 76-year-old former boss and rival for the party’s nomination..

“We’ve lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections,” Haley said. “Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. That ends now.”

Haley, 51, highlighted her conservative victories as governor of South Carolina and UN ambassador during the Trump administration, vowing as president to “renew an America that’s strong and proud – not weak and woke”.

Playing to the audience of conservative activists, Haley spent much of her speech slamming the subjects that dominate outrage on the right: Joe Biden, socialism and the liberal media.

“In case you didn’t notice, the liberal media’s heads are exploding about my run for president,” she said. “We all know why. The media can’t stand that I’m a conservative. Think about it. I’m a woman – a minority – and the daughter of immigrants. I am proof that liberals are wrong about everything they say about America.”

One of her loudest applause lines was when Haley, after describing herself as the “first minority female governor in history”, declared, as she has in the past: “America is not a racist country!”

Haley also lashed out at Don Lemon of CNN after he suggested she was past her “prime”. He later expressed regret for the comment. (Her campaign is selling beer koozies that say “Past my prime?” and “Hold my beer”.)

After finishing her speech, Haley waded into the crowd in the main hall of the venue. As she posed for photos with supporters, some attendees heckled her, shouting: “We love Trump” and “Rino”, a derogatory label for conservatives viewed as insufficiently loyal. It stands for “Republican in name only”.

Haley never mentioned Trump by name, and has been careful to avoid direct criticism of him since launching her bid for president. In a recent interview, she pledged to support him if he were to win the nomination.

Haley was the first major Republican candidate to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination. But she was not the only potential aspirant to speak at the conservative gathering. Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech multimillionaire and author who announced his candidacy for president, was also scheduled to speak at the conference following another 2024 hopeful, Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

Trump will headline the event with an hour-long speech on Saturday evening.

But once a magnet for Republican rising stars, CPAC will not hear from several possible 2024 hopefuls this year. The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce a run for president in the coming months, is skipping the conservative conference and is instead slated to appear at a dueling event hosted by the conservative Club For Growth in Florida this weekend.

Also absent are potential presidential aspirants were former vice-president Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem.

Public opinion surveys underscore Haley’s uphill climb to winning the Republican nomination. She trails far behind Trump and DeSantis, hovering at around 5%, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.

That enduring affection for Trump was on full display at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, underscoring the challenge his rivals face as they vie for the nomination.

Attendees wearing “Trump 2024” hats and “Trump was right” T-shirts posed for pictures in an Oval Office replica. “Trump’s rump” was bedazzled on the backside of one woman’s jeans. And the former president is all but certain to win the unscientific presidential straw poll of CPAC attendees, as he did last year.

“I made up my mind on November 3, 2020 and haven’t changed it since,” said Donna Shannen of Pennsylvania, who was attending her first CPAC along with Dawn Bancroft. Both derided Haley as a “traitor” for condemning Trump’s role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

They saw Haley’s attempts to soften those comments later as a sign of “weakness” and hypocrisy. But Shannen said she’d give Haley more credit if she directly challenged Trump, rather than trying to have it both ways with veiled criticism and overt praise.

“If she can’t even attack her own opponents in her own party, how is she going to attack Kim Jong-Un or Xi Jinping,” she said.

Haley did resonate with some attendees. Leaving the ballroom after her remarks, several young women said they were inspired by her message, her foreign policy experience – and the possibility of electing the first female president.

“I think she is a way better candidate than Trump would be. I don’t think he can win,” said Ashleigh Dyson, a college student at St Mary’s College of Maryland,, who said it “crazy” that the US has never elected a woman to the White House.

Chiming in, Carolyn Wilson, also a student at St Mary’s College of Maryland said she believed Haley could win over independent and swing voters who recoiled from Trump during his presidency. She added that being a woman will likely help Haley navigate a bare-knuckled primary race.

“She’s used to that pushback,” Wilson said, noting that there was a man in the audience who booed Haley as she spoke. “She didn’t even bat an eye!”