Nikki Haley, who was former US president Donald Trump’s sole rival in the Republican presidential primary campaign, announced on Wednesday that she is exiting the presidential race. Indian-American GOP candidate, who was Trump’s sole rival in the Republican presidential primary campaign, did not have the required support from the party leadership and also fell way behind in terms of delegates.
“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,” Haley said in a televised address in Charleston, South Carolina. The 52-year-old prided herself on being the last challenger standing between the “chaos” of Trump and the 2024 Republican White House nomination.
“I am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received from all across our great country,” Haley added. “But the time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard — I have done that. I have no regrets.” Haley’s decision came after she won just 43 of the Republican delegates while Trump won 764 on Super Tuesday. She did, however, win one primary while Trump won the primaries in more than a dozen states on Tuesday.
Super Tuesday made it clear to a large extent that Donald Trump will be the Republican party’s nominee but he was not declared presumptive nominee because Haley won the Vermont Republican primaries, preventing a Trump clean sweep. The former UN ambassador and former South Carolina governor had only clinched the GOP nominating contest in Washington DC.
The states of Virginia or Massachusetts were deemed favourable for Nikki Haley but she lost those states to her former boss. She vowed to stay in the race through to Super Tuesday on March 5. She said she would continue to compete in the primary. “(We will compete) until the last person votes, because I believe in a better America and a brighter future for our kids,” Haley said at the time.
Last week, Haley said she is committed to staying in the race and said she thought it was important for voters still to have a choice between candidates. “(This is) not a Soviet-style election with only one candidate. And I have a duty to give them that choice,” Haley said. With Haley’s reported exit, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, all of whom called off their races. The latter three later endorsed Trump.
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