Ex-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on March 6, said, as she ended her 2024 campaign, that former President Donald Trump will likely become the Republican presidential nominee.
“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,” she added in her prepared remarks.
Ms. Haley, 52, ended her campaign after losing 14 states to President Trump on so-called Super Tuesday. She won Vermont with 50 percent of the vote.
President Trump, 77, triumphed with Republican voters in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
There are 2,429 delegates, and a GOP candidate must win support from a majority to receive the nomination.
President Trump is now up to 995 but has effectively secured the nomination and is headed for a rematch with President Joe Biden because Ms. Haley, who has 89 delegates, was the last GOP contender to drop out of the race.
“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump on his huge primary victory!” Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “I’d also like to congratulate Nikki Haley for running a hard-fought campaign and becoming the first woman to win a Republican presidential contest.”
“I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard, I have done that. I have no regrets,” Ms. Haley, who once said she would not run in 2024 if President Trump did, told supporters.
She added later: “In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July. 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.”
Ms. Haley described herself as a conservative Republican and said she has always supported Republican presidential nominees.
“But on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice, when she said, ‘never just follow the crowd. Always make up your own mind,’” Ms. Haley said. That’s when she said that President Trump would have to earn votes not only from independents and Democrats but from Republicans.
The stance diverges from many other former candidates, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who went on to endorse President Trump.
“While I’ve had disagreements with Donald Trump, such as on the coronavirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci, Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden,” Mr. DeSantis said in January as he exited the field.
Several other prominent Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have endorsed President Trump.
Trump, Biden React
President Trump said on Truth Social that he hoped Ms. Haley remained in the race until the end.“I’d like to thank my family, friends, and the Great Republican Party for helping me to produce, by far, the most successful Super Tuesday in HISTORY, and would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation,” President Trump wrote.
He also noted that many supporters of Ms. Haley, according to surveys and exit polls, are registered Democrats. Some of her contributions also came from Democrats, the post noted.
President Trump, in a speech delivered on Tuesday, did not mention Ms. Haley. He said earlier this year that any person who contributed to Ms. Haley’s campaign “will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,” referring to his slogan “Make America Great Again.”
“We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!” he wrote at the time.
In a fundraising message sent Wednesday, President Trump’s campaign said, “It was a hard-fought race, but now it’s time for us to unite as a party and defeat Joe Biden!”
President Biden praised Ms. Haley for being “willing to speak the truth about Trump” and for challenging him in the Republican primary.
“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,“ he added. ”I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO, and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”
