This is the candidate who is rising in the Republican primaries: Nikki Haley received the support this Tuesday from billionaire Charles Koch, one of the largest donors to the American right. The strong support is intended to help the former South Carolina governor embody a moderate alternative to Donald Trump, who is still far ahead in the polls.
Published on: November 29, 2023 – 11:42 p.m
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With our correspondent in Miami, David Thomson
It’s a promise of nearly unlimited campaign resources with one goal: to beat Donald Trump in the Republican primary that begins next January. Nikki Haley “is best positioned to beat Trump, our internal polls show,” wrote the powerful conservative group American for Prosperity as it announced its official endorsement Tuesday for the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the race Republican nomination announced.
Nikki Haley is becoming increasingly distant with Donald Trump. “I don’t agree with many of his decisions, but whether rightly or not, he is causing chaos,” she said at a meeting in her state this weekend.
Trump is still way ahead
For several weeks now, the only woman in the primary has risen high enough in the polls and in fundraising to challenge Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place in certain states, but she still remains far from the lead big favorite removed.
Trump has trailed all of his rivals by at least 40 points in all public polls for months. American for Prosperity is a libertarian lobbying group founded in 2004 and funded by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch.
Ironically, he supported the Tea Party movement and helped elect Donald Trump in 2016. Now he will support Nikki Haley’s campaign with millions of dollars to beat him. A bet that makes most American analysts skeptical.