Nikki Haley has dropped out of the 2024 Republican presidential race after a humiliating Super Tuesday in which she lost fourteen states to Donald Trump and won just one.
In the emotional remarks, she paid tribute to her mother, said the world was “on fire” because of America's “withdrawal” and then confirmed she would not support Trump.
She then wished him “luck” and said she was unwilling to support him, using Margaret Thatcher's quote: “Never just follow the crowd. Always think for yourself.”
Thatcher called the line the “motto of her life” in 1997, adding: “If necessary, get the crowd to follow you.”
“It is now up to Donald Trump to win the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him,” Haley said.
Nikki Haley has dropped out of the 2024 Republican presidential race after a humiliating Super Tuesday in which she lost fourteen states to Donald Trump and won just one
Haley left the stage without answering questions and her two children by her side
She pointed to the large number of her supporters who said on Super Tuesday that polls showed they would not vote for Trump in November.
An ABC exit poll found that majorities of Haley voters in North Carolina (78%), Virginia (68%) and California (69%) would not commit to supporting the Republican candidate.
“And I hope he does.” “At its best, politics is about winning people over to your cause, not turning them away,” Haley continued.
“In all likelihood, Trump will be the Republican nominee when our convention meets in July.” I congratulate him and wish him all the best. I wish everyone who wants to become America's president all the best. “Our country is too valuable to let our differences divide us.”
Trump notably did not extend an olive branch in a statement released by a campaign aide minutes after Haley's speech. He said she was “beaten last night” and “much of her money came from radical left-wing Democrats, as did many of her supporters,” he wrote.
“At this point, I hope she stays in the “race” and fights to the end!” Trump wrote to Trump, who then turned his attention to November with a series of scathing attacks on Biden.
Biden's campaign team tried to exploit a loophole.
“Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. “I want to be clear: There is a place for her in my campaign,” he said in his own campaign statement.
This came hours after Trump failed to acknowledge her in his victory speech Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago after calling her a “birdbrain” in the final days of her campaign.
Haley opened the address by saying, “Now is the time to pause my campaign.” I said I want Americans' voices to be heard. I did that. I regret nothing.
“And while I won’t be running for office again, I won’t stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
“Our national debt will ultimately destroy our economy.” A smaller federal government is not only necessary for our freedom, it is also necessary for our survival. The road to socialism is the road to ruin for America.
Haley left the stage without answering questions, with her two children Rena and Nalin at her side. Her husband Michael is currently deployed in Africa, which Trump has used to troll her in recent weeks.
He barely appeared with her during her campaign.
The former South Carolina governor announced in a speech in Charleston that she was ending her campaign after spending the biggest day of the primary election hidden from the public
End of the road: Haley ended her campaign without a realistic path to defeating Trump, who is just days away from getting the delegates he needs
Red, White and Blue: Haley ended her run having overtaken her Republican competitors, but only won in Vermont and Washington, DC
Waning campaign: Haley held her farewell event in the glass office building where campaign staff worked after refusing to hold a campaign event Tuesday night
Donald Trump once again mocked Haley in a statement saying she had been “MET.”
Her departure after a bitter battle with the Republican front-runner now means the general election will become a duel that the majority of Americans fear: 81-year-old Joe Biden versus 77-year-old Trump.
A defiant Haley directed harsh words at Trump at the end of her campaign, claiming he was in cognitive decline and was not the best candidate to beat Biden in November.
Trump initially gave her nicknames like “Birdbrain” and “Nimrada” – based on her Indian first name Nimarata – but then virtually ignored her when it became clear he would dominate the Republican race.
She survived as Trump's last major GOP challenger and got the two-person race she wanted, but was swallowed up by Trump's overwhelming popularity among MAGA voters and his Republican base
“Are there really going to be two 80-year-olds running for president in this country?” “It's a fact that at their age you're going to suffer mental decline,” she told CBS News days ago – and echoed that label in equal measure on the leader of their party.
On Tuesday, Haley told Fox & Friends, “I didn't hear him promise me that he would support me if I won, so I don't know why I have to swear to him that I would support him.”
Haley paused her presidential campaign after being wiped out in the Super Tuesday states by Donald Trump.
She bested a bevy of male competitors she sometimes called “the guys,” including former heavyweight Ron DeSantis, who beat her in Iowa.
However, she failed to conquer her home state of South Carolina, which would have given impetus to what was becoming an insurgent campaign.
Instead, on Tuesday and earlier in Washington, D.C., she failed to win any contest other than Vermont, where just over 2,000 voters gave her a victory that Trump's team derided as “Queen of the Swamp.”
Haley began her campaign trying to navigate the difficult path of distancing herself from Trump without outright denigrating him while trying to find space in a Republican electorate loyal to the front-runner.
She was the first to raise questions about President Joe Biden's mental capacity and cognitive abilities – but then turned that criticism on Trump himself as the race became increasingly close.
In January, she asked why the nation should be forced into a choice between “two 80-year-olds” (Biden is 81 and Trump is 77).
Trump largely ignored her at first and also complained that her campaign had been disloyal.
But after she gave a speech to New Hampshire that Trump said sounded like a victory lap, he sharpened his criticism, deriding her as “birdbrain.”
The former UN ambassador who served under Trump criticized Trump's stance on the war against Ukraine and called for continued US support.
As she continued her campaign earlier this year, she escalated her attacks, eventually winning praise from “Never Trump supporters” who saw utility in weakening Trump even if she had no path to victory.
Haley even began to weigh in on Trump's legal troubles, first using code words like “chaos” and then saying he couldn't beat Biden while constantly distracted by his legal troubles.
Haley survived as Trump's last major GOP challenger and got the two-person race she wanted, but was swallowed up by Trump's overwhelming popularity with MAGA voters and his Republican base
On Monday morning, Haley defied calls to drop out across all Super Tuesday states, although she did not announce a public timetable for herself.
“As much as everyone wants to push me out, I'm not ready to come out yet,” she told Fox & Friends.
She made some of the same arguments as Hillary Clinton when she continued her candidacy against Barack Obama in 2008 with an appeal that highlighted her groundbreaking performance.
“I’m still sitting there fighting for the people who want a voice, so they deserve it,” Haley added.
Money didn't seem to be a problem. She had $14 million in the bank at the start of the year and said she raised $12 million in February alone.
She outraged Trump in January, publicly pointing out that he had spent $50 million on legal fees from companies that supported his campaign.
But American for Prosperity Action, the powerful network backed by billionaire Charles Koch, announced it was pausing support after Haley lost her home state.