Nikki Haley vows to continue fighting Trump’s candidacy
GREENVILLE, S.C. — There are no wins on the horizon for Nikki Haley.
Those close to the former United Nations ambassador, the last major Republican candidate standing in Donald Trump’s path to the 2024 presidential nomination, are bracing for a blowout loss in her home state’s primary election on Saturday. And they cannot name a state where she is likely to beat Trump.
But in an emotional address Tuesday, Haley declared, “I refuse to quit.”
And in an interview, she vowed to stay in the fight against Trump at least until after Super Tuesday’s slate of more than a dozen contests on March 5 — even if she suffers a big loss in her home state Saturday.
“Ten days after South Carolina, another 20 states vote. I mean, this isn’t Russia. We don’t want someone to go in and just get 99% of the vote,” Haley told The Associated Press. “What is the rush? Why is everybody so panicked about me having to get out of this race?”
In fact, some Republicans are encouraging Haley to stay in the campaign — potentially all the way to the Republican National Convention in July in the event the 77-year-old former president becomes a convicted felon or stumbles into another major scandal.
As Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement presses for her exit, a defiant Haley repeatedly likened Trump to Democratic President Joe Biden — and both as too old, too divisive and too unpopular to be the only options for voters this fall.
She also pushed back when asked if there is any primary state where she can defeat Trump.
“Instead of asking me what states I’m gonna win, why don’t we ask how he’s gonna win a general election after spending a full year in a courtroom?”
Lest anyone question her commitment, Haley’s campaign is spending more than $500,000 on a new advertising campaign set to begin running Wednesday in Michigan ahead of the state’s Feb. 27 primary. At the same time, the AP has obtained Haley’s post-South Carolina travel schedule featuring 11 separate stops in seven days across Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Massachusetts.
The schedule also includes 10 high-dollar private fundraising events.