Former President Donald Trump warned big donors who are still backing his GOP primary opponent, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, that they will be “permanently barred from the MAGA camp” if they continue giving her support.
“When I ran for office and won, I noticed that the losing candidate’s ‘donors’ would immediately come to me, and want to ’help out.' This is standard in politics, but no longer with me,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Anybody that makes a ‘contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,” he continued, using his nickname for Ms. Haley.
“We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!”
The post is the latest sign of President Trump’s feelings about Ms. Haley remaining in the race, despite the long odds against her after she lost to him in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Until Tuesday night, he had not openly called for her to drop out.
‘Walk Away’
At least one top GOP donor weighed in on the matter Wednesday night, quoting the late country singer Kenny Rogers to suggest that Ms. Haley should “walk away.”
Sabin Metals chair Andy Sabin told Fox News: “Do you know Kenny Rogers? ‘You have to know when to hold ’em, you’ve got to know when to fold ‘em. You gotta know when to walk away.’ It’s time for Nikki Haley to walk away.”
He noted that she is trailing by over 30 points in South Carolina, where President Trump already has the support of two senators, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, as well as the support of Gov. Henry McMaster.
Mr. Sabin said he'd be among the first to cut a check for her in 2028, but her 2024 chances are over.
President Trump won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday by 11 points, securing 54.4 percent of the votes. The victory makes him the first non-incumbent Republican candidate to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
Ms. Haley received only 44.3 percent. Despite this, she has resisted calls to drop out and insisted that there are still dozens of states left to contest.
“Let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night. She had a very bad night,“ he said. “She did very poorly, actually.”
After her loss, Ms. Haley’s remarks about President Trump on Tuesday night were stronger in tone. She claimed that “a Trump nomination is a Biden win and a Kamala Harris presidency.”
Ms. Haley, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration, also repeatedly downplayed his chances in the general election.
Recent polls pour water on those doubts, however, showing that the former president has substantial leads in most of the critical swing states, including Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and the Rust Belt states.
“I just do want to reiterate the polls,” President Trump said. “We’re way up on everybody. We’re way up on Biden.”
In further comments made on Truth Social on Wednesday, President Trump suggested that Ms. Haley should redirect her “anger” to President Biden.
He also said Ms. Haley was “very bad for the Republican Party and, indeed, our country.”
“Her anger should be aimed at her third-rate political consultants and, more importantly, Crooked Joe Biden and those that are destroying our country, not the people who will save it,” he added.
“I knew Nikki well, she was average at best, is not the one to take on world leaders, and she never did. That was up to me, and that is why they respected the United States.”
President Trump has received several high-profile endorsements in recent weeks from lawmakers who had once criticized him as unfit for office.
Some of the senators who endorsed him include Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).
President Trump also secured endorsements from his former GOP primary opponents, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, among others.
