Bridgewater, VA – Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign on March 6, leaving Donald Trump as the last major Republican candidate. After Ron DeSantis dropped out of the election, she was in a head to head race against Donald Trump.
Haley has extensive political experience. She was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, and eventually became the state’s first non-white female governor. In 2017, she served U.S ambassador to the United Nations during Trump’s first two years in office.
Nikki Haley leaves the 2024 presidential campaign as the first woman to win a Republican primary contest, beating Trump in Washington, D.C., and Vermont. She initially decided to not run against Trump in 2024 because of the overwhelming popularity of Trump. The Wall Street Journal said there is “no clear rationale” for Haley’s bid, but she changed her mind and started her campaign three months after Trump. In a speech in Exeter she said, “I don’t care if they underestimate me, because that’s always fun. They said I couldn’t win when I ran up against a thirty-year incumbent [for the state legislature]. . . . When I ran for governor, what I didn’t tell you was I ran against a lieutenant governor, a congressman, an attorney general, and a state senator—and I was Nikki who? Nobody had heard of me.”
Her campaign was slow to acquire donors. However, she gained popularity with many independent voters and college students according to Mark Murray.
When Ron DeSantis dropped his campaign, Haley’s popularity grew. However, she failed to close the large gap between herself and Trump in primary and nationwide polls. The polls can be found here.
In the last two weeks of her campaign, she increased her attacks on Trump and Joe Biden, where she emphasized both candidates’ older age. Aaron Pellish and Kylie Atwood said these attacks failed to increase Haley’s popularity among Republicans.
Trump took note of Haley criticizing his age and posted on Truth Social after the election, “Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion.” Because of the bad blood, Haley did not endorse Trump’s campaign. Rather, she challenged Trump to win the votes of the moderate Republicans who were her main supporters. Haley stated in her speech in Charleston, South Carolina, “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.”
Shortly after Haley dropped out of the election, Trump declared that Haley’s donors would be banned from his movement.
Biden took note of this, and in his speech on March 6 he said, “Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign.”
With Haley suspending her campaign, a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden appears to be around the corner.
