Haley ends White House bid pushing Trump, Biden closer to Nov rematch

Nikki leaves race creating history as first woman to win Republican primaries

NIKKI HALEY suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Haley didn’t endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston. Instead, she encouraged him to earn the support of the coalition of moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” she said. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”

Haley, a former

South Carolina governorandformerun ambassador, was Trump’s first significant rival when she jumped into the race in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign warning the GOP against embracing

Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Biden.

Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president

WHILE CAMPAIGNING, Haley drew support from suburbanites and collegeeducated voters, highlighting Trump’s weaknesses with those groups. Biden’s call welcoming Haley supporters to his camp opens a way to balance the displeasure he faces over migration and economic issues.

is on track to reach the necessary 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.

Haley’s defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. It’s unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party. Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-cubas said, “Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, ‘We’re united.’”

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who had backed Haley, acknowledging Trump’s previous rejection of her supporters. “...I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement. “I know there is a lot wewon’tagreeon.butonthefundamental issues... I... believe we can find common ground.”

Haley has made clear she doesn’t want to serve as Trump’s vice president or run on a thirdparty ticket arranged by the group No Labels.

Biden’s bid to be on guard

AP Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a Super Tuesday election night party in Florida.