Ahead of S.C. primary, Haley vows to keep running
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Nikki Haley struck a defiant tone Tuesday as she promised not to leave the Republican primary contest soon and escalated her attacks on front-runner
Donald Trump.
Despite middling polling numbers and ahead of an expected loss in her home state of South Carolina this weekend, the state’s former governor said she is “far” from dropping out of the race, and she vowed to stay in it until at least after Super Tuesday, when 15 states and one US territory vote on March 5.
“South Carolina will vote on Saturday,” Haley said. “But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere.”
Haley came in third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire and finished an embarrassing second to the “none of these candidates” ballot option in a Nevada primary in which Trump didn’t compete. Public polling shows her losing badly to Trump in South Carolina, despite her popularity as governor there.
Trump leads Haley among likely Republican primary voters in the state by 63 percent to 35 percent, according to a new Suffolk University-USA Today poll released Tuesday.
In her Tuesday remarks — in which she compared herself to David fighting Goliath — Haley also turned to Republicans who have lined up behind Trump despite disavowing him behind closed doors. She blamed this on a “herd mentality,” arguing that many of her Republican colleagues have surrendered to it.
“Many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace Trump privately dread him,” she said. “They know what a disaster he’s been and will continue to be for our party. They’re just too afraid to say it out loud.”
In her speech, Haley said that, unlike her former opponents, she feels “no need to kiss the ring.”
After South Carolina, Haley has events planned in Michigan — the next state to vote — and the Super Tuesday contests of Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and Massachusetts. After Tuesday’s event, her campaign announced an ad buy that will launch in Michigan on Wednesday.