Emotional Nikki Haley vows to fight on in GOP primary as new South Carolina poll shows her down 28 points to Trump
GREENVILLE, South Carolina — Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley briefly shed tears Tuesday while praising her military husband — part of an impassioned speech in which she vowed to remain in the GOP race against Donald Trump.
“I wish Michael was here today. And I wish our children and I could see him tonight,” a visibly emotional Haley, 52, said during what her campaign had billed as a major address on the “state of the race” — inevitably triggering speculation that she would suspend her campaign.
“Michael is fighting for the country he loves,” added the former South Carolina governor and onetime ambassador to the United Nations. “So are all of his brothers and sisters in arms, wherever they’re stationed in this dangerous world.
“They have made their stand because America is worth fighting for,” Haley went on.
Trump, 77, publicly questioned earlier this month whether Michael Haley, a commissioned major in the South Carolina National Guard, was actually serving overseas. The would-be first gentleman has been on a year-long deployment since June in the Horn of Africa with the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.
Nikki Haley vowed Tuesday to continue campaigning beyond her home state’s Saturday primary, despite a series of polls showing her on track to suffer yet another double-digit loss to the former president.
“Some of you, perhaps a few of you in the media, came here today to see if I’m dropping out of the race. Well, I’m not,” Haley proclaimed.
“South Carolina will vote on Saturday, but on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere.”
She further vowed to campaign “every day until the last person votes” and said suspending her campaign would be taking the “easy way out.”
Ahead of the address, the Haley campaign countered the dropout rumors by announcing over half a dozen campaign events throughout South Carolina as well as unveiling leadership teams in Texas and Vermont, both of which hold nominating contests on March 5, known as Super Tuesday.
After her speech, Haley released a packed multi-state schedule of events leading up to the voting extravaganza, in which 16 states and territories pick their Republican nominee.
The former South Carolina governor is scheduled to hit Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Massachusetts — all between Feb. 25 and March 2.
“I’ll keep fighting until the American people close the door,” Haley reiterated. “The presidential primaries have barely begun. Just three states have voted — three.”
Left unsaid was any mention of a specific strategy or game plan for victory as her climb to the Republican nod looks increasingly insurmountable.
Haley also cautioned Republicans against a “Soviet-style election where there’s only one candidate” and chided that “Trump, of all people, should know we don’t rig elections.”
“We’ve never seen such dissatisfaction with the leading candidates. We’ve never had so many Americans mired in pessimism and division,” she added.
Haley noted that every time President Biden “opens his mouth, he sounds like his mind is closing up shop,” and suggested he’s “at risk of dementia.”
She also warned about Trump’s unpopularity with vast swaths of the electorate, contending he is the only GOP candidate Biden can beat.
“Do we really want to spend every day from now until November watching America’s two most disliked politicians duke it out?” Haley asked, adding that “I feel no need to kiss the ring, and I have no fear of Trump’s retribution.”
“There are those who will try and paint me as ‘Never Trump.’ That’s not who I am,” she said. “I have countless serious concerns about the current president. Joe Biden has turned our country upside down.”
Hours before Haley spoke, she received more bad polling news in the form of a Suffolk University/USA Today survey, which found her trailing Trump 63% to 35% among likely South Carolina primary voters.
Among self-described Republicans, Trump touts a whopping 72% to 25% advantage, while Haley holds a meager 53%-46% edge with independents, according to the poll.
The survey was conducted Feb.15-18 and sampled 500 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Allies of the former president have long needled Haley for staying in the race despite her poor results.
“Is Nikki trying to replace Kamala on Biden’s ticket? As unbelievable as it may be, it’s the only logical explanation for what has become a campaign in futility,” Alex Pfeiffer, spokesman for the pro-Trump Make America Great Again Inc., chided.
“Every dollar spent by Nikki Haley is a dollar spent in support of Joe Biden and the Democrats.”
“Nikki Haley cannot win a single state and has no pathway to victory,” senior Trump adviser Jason Miller posted on X. “Haley should do the right thing today and drop out and unite behind President Trump to defeat Joe Biden.”
