Nikki Haley Officially Bows Out Without Endorsing Trump, Warns Him He Has to ‘Earn the Votes’ of Her Supporters
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley officially suspended her presidential campaign Wednesday morning, but pointedly withheld her endorsement from GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
Haley made history as the first Republican woman to win a primary contest, beating Trump in D.C. and Vermont, but the former president’s base of support has proved thus far insurmountable and he otherwise swept the table in the Super Tuesday contests.
Flanked by a row of American flags, Haley expressed how she was “filled with gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received from all across our great country” and her appreciation for how “my mother, a first-generation immigrant, got to vote for her daughter for president” last week.
After speaking about the dangers of the country’s growing national debt and the “moral imperative” of standing by America’s allies in Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, she addressed the issue of Trump.
Other Republican candidates who previously dropped out mostly endorsed the ex-president, with the exception of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (who reiterated his refusal to endorse Trump Wednesday morning). Haley followed a similar path.
“In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July,” said Haley. “I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well, who would be America’s president. Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us.”
She then made clear she was declining to endorse, reaffirming her prior comments that the RNC demand for a loyalty pledge wasn’t binding since Trump had himself refused to sign:
I have always been a conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee but on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, quote, “Never just follow the crowd, always make up your own mind.” 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.
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.
As for Trump, he took what CNN anchor Dana Bash described as the “sore winner” route, posting on Truth Social shortly before Haley’s speech a message attacking the woman he chose to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for getting “TROUNCED” in the Super Tuesday primaries.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
This article has been updated to add Hutchinson’s refusal to endorse Trump.
