Nikki Haley Drops GOP Presidential Bid, Does Not Endorse Trump

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ended her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination Wednesday morning after losing all but one of yesterday’s Super Tuesday contests.

Haley, who notched her first primary win on Sunday in the District of Columbia, won Vermont Tuesday night by 4 percentage points. 

Former President Trump, however, swept the rest of the Super Tuesday contests, with his largest margin of victory being in Alaska (76 percentage points) and his smallest in Utah (18 percentage points).

The outcome meant by the end of the night Trump had 995 committed delegates to Haley’s 89 with 1,215 needed to become the presumptive Republican nominee.

In remarks delivered before supporters in Charleston, Haley said she launched her campaign just over a year ago explaining that it was grounded in her love for the country.

“Just last week, my mother, a first generation immigrant, got to vote for her daughter for president,” she said, adding, “Only in America.”

Haley went on to express gratitude for the support she’s received across the country, but said, “the time has now come to suspend my campaign.”

“I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that,” she continued. “I have no regrets. And although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”

“It is important that we stand strong for the cause of freedom. We must bind together as Americans. We must turn away from the darkness of hatred and division. I will continue to promote all those values,” she said.

Pointedly, Trump’s first U.N. ambassador did not endorse the former president. Instead, she simply acknowledged that “in all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July.

“I congratulate him and wish him well, as I would wish anyone well who would be America’s president,” she said. “Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us.

“I have always been a conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee. But on this question, as she did on so many others, [former British Prime Minister] Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, ‘Never just follow the crowd. Always make up your own mind,’” Haley said.

She then went on to say the onus is on Trump to win over the votes of “those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. 

“I hope he does that. At its best politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing,” Haley said.

Shortly after Haley spoke, President Joe Biden issued a statement in which he said, “It takes a lot of courage to run for president — that’s especially true in today’s Republican Party, where so few dare to speak the truth about Donald Trump. 

“Nikki Haley was willing to speak the truth about Trump: about the chaos that always follows him, about his inability to see right from wrong, about his cowering before Vladimir Putin,” Biden said.

He continued by saying, “Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. 

“I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground,” the president said.

“We all know this is no ordinary election and the stakes for America couldn’t be higher. I know that Democrats and Republicans and Independents disagree on many issues and hold strong convictions … But I also know this: what unites Democrats and Republicans and Independents is a love for America,” Biden concluded.

As for Trump, he celebrated his Super Tuesday victories from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday night by calling for party unity.

That call was immediately dismissed by Haley campaign spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas, who said in a statement, “Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, ‘We’re united.’ 

“Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubas said.

Trump will now be focusing all of his attention on Biden, who he is now certain to face in the November general election.

Though Haley left the race on Wednesday, she outlasted 14 other Republican candidates and on Sunday became the first woman ever to win a GOP primary.

Heading into the 2024 election cycle, few expected her to do so well and many thought it would be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who quit the race before the New Hampshire primary in January, who would be the biggest challenge for Trump.

Throughout the campaign, Haley repeatedly characterized Trump as an old and befuddled agent of chaos who repeatedly ignored the U.S. Constitution and disrespected Veterans and active duty service members.

But for the most part, she tried to espouse a positive, hopeful, forward-looking message, saying it’s simply time for a new generation to lead.

That message, however, gained little traction in electoral contests increasingly run by the angry, MAGA wing of the Republican party.

As for the Democrats, Biden, as expected, swept all 15 states that held contests Tuesday, as well as the Iowa Caucuses, which for the first time were conducted by mail. 

The one surprise was the president’s loss in American Samoa, a tiny American territory in the Pacific Ocean, where he came in 11 votes behind a little-known businessman, Jason Palmer.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue