Jindal to announce plans in late June

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) will make a “major announcement” on June 24 regarding his White House aspirations, he said Wednesday.

“For some time now, my wife Supriya and I have been thinking and praying about whether to run for the Presidency of our great nation. I’m pleased to say that we will announce our final decision on June 24th in New Orleans,” Jindal said in a statement.

“If I decide to announce on June 24th that I will seek the Republican nomination for President, my candidacy will be based on the idea that the American people are ready to try a dramatically different direction. We don’t need just small changes, we need a dramatically different path.”

Jindal blasted President Obama, saying the president has “started to redefine the American Dream, turning it into the European Nightmare.”

“Because of this, I believe our country is in serious trouble and that the hour is late for America. Economic collapse is much closer to the door than people realize, our culture is decaying at a rapid rate, and our standing in a dangerous world is at an all-time low,” he added.

Jindal said “the problems caused by 7 years of weak leadership and mistakes in the Obama administration can be corrected” by sending Republicans to Congress and electing a president “who is willing to make hard decisions and who has the ideas to change our country’s future.”

“While other Republican leaders are talking about change,” he said, “I’ve published detailed plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, rebuild America’s Defenses, make America energy independent, and reform Education for our nation’s children.”

If Jindal runs, the staunch conservative would join one of the most crowded GOP presidential fields in recent memory.

Republicans currently have nine official candidates next election cycle following Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) launch of his campaign on Monday in Central, S.C.

Jindal has recently stepped up his attacks on Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of the men he would face for the GOP nomination should he run.

The two have sparred over Paul’s comments last month that GOP hawks helped grow the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“This is a perfect example of why Senator Paul is unsuited to be commander-in-chief,” Jindal said, referring to Paul’s remarks.

“We have men and women in the military who are in the field trying to fight ISIS right now, and Senator Paul is taking the weakest, most liberal Democrat position.”

Politico first reported the timing of Jindal’s announcement early Wednesday.

–This report was updated at 8:07 a.m.