GREENVILLE, South Carolina – Nikki Haley is continuing to campaign within the Republican Party, although no victory seems in sight for her.
The former US ambassador to the UN has remained the only Republican candidate running against former President Donald Trump to receive the official nomination of the Republican Party. Her team is preparing for the fallout from losing the primary election in her home state of South Carolina, which will be held on Saturday. They also don't expect her to win against Mr. Trump in any other states in the coming weeks.
But ahead of a major speech Tuesday, Ms. Haley told the Associated Press news agency that she will not give up running in the Republican primary regardless of Saturday's outcome.
Backed by the largest fundraiser ever raised in her political career, she vowed to continue the effort against Mr. Trump at least until Super Tuesday, March 5, when fifteen states hold primaries simultaneously.
“Ten days until South Carolina, 20 more states will vote. I mean this is not Russia. “We don't want someone to get into the election and get 99% of the vote,” Ms. Haley said. “Why this rush? Why is everyone so panicked that I'm going to have to drop out of this race?”
Nikki Haley during an event in Greenville, South Carolina (February 20, 2024)
“I refuse to withdraw,” Ms. Haley told a small group of supporters gathered in South Carolina in a speech outlining her rationale for staying in the race. “South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I will continue to run for president. I will not leave.”
In fact, some Republicans are encouraging Ms. Haley to continue campaigning even if she continues to lose, perhaps even as far as the Republican National Convention in July. Her presence could prove useful if the 77-year-old former president, perhaps the most exposed major-party candidate in American history, were to be convicted by a court or embroiled in another major scandal.
As Mr. Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has been pressing for its exit from the race, Ms. Haley has defiantly highlighted Mr. Trump's legal exposure and criticized MAGA activists who say the rejection her bid to stay out of the race is hurting Mr. Trump's chances in the November general election against President Biden.
Former President Donald Trump during an event in Michigan (February 17, 2024)
“That's probably the funniest thing I've ever heard. If I drop out today, this will be the longest general election in history,” Ms. Haley told the Associated Press news agency.
She also deflected a question about whether there are any states where she thinks she can beat Mr. Trump in the Republican primary.
“Instead of asking me which states I'm going to win, why don't we ask how he's going to win the general election after he's spent a whole year in the courtroom?” she said.
History suggests that Mrs. Haley has no chance of stopping Mr. Trump. Never before has a Republican candidate lost the first two primary ballots, as Mrs. Haley has, by an average 21% margin, and gone on to win the nomination as the official Republican nominee for president. Polls suggest she is at a deep disadvantage heading into Saturday's home state election, as well as the 15-state election that will be held on Super Tuesday. And since Mr. Trump first announced his candidacy in 2015, all efforts by other Republican candidates to stop him have failed.