Nikki Haley announced Wednesday she is ending her presidential campaign, saying she has “no regrets.”
via: NBC News
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley dropped out of the 2024 presidential race Wednesday after losing every state but Vermont in Super Tuesday’s primary contests, ceding the Republican nomination to former President Donald Trump.
Haley’s decision to end her campaign effectively kicks off the general election, with Trump and President Joe Biden taking unofficial command of their parties early in primary season after a string of victories.
“I am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received from all across our great country, but the time has now come to suspend my campaign,” Haley said in a speech Wednesday morning. “I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard — I have done that. I have no regrets. And although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
Haley didn’t announce an endorsement during her remarks Wednesday. Instead, she encouraged Trump, who is close to having the delegates needed to win the GOP nomination, to earn the support of Republicans and independent voters who backed her.
“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,” she said. “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.”
Haley said that being a private citizen is “privilege enough in itself” and that she looks forward to “enjoying in all likelihood” that Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee.
“I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America’s president,” she said. “Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us.”
In a statement on Haley’s withdrawal from the Republican presidential primary, President Joe Biden acknowledged the “courage” it took to “speak the truth” about her GOP opponent.
“It takes a lot of courage to run for President — that’s especially true in today’s Republican Party, where so few dare to speak the truth about Donald Trump,” he said. “Nikki Haley was willing to speak the truth about Trump: about the chaos that always follows him, about his inability to see right from wrong, about his cowering before Vladimir Putin.”
Biden also urged her supporters to support his re-election campaign.
“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,” Biden said. “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.”
In response to news of Haley dropping out of the race, Trump slammed his former challenger in a statement.
“Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries,” Trump said, referring to her only Super Tuesday victory in Vermont.
Trump then accused Haley of raising most of her money from Democrats and urged her supporters to get behind his presidential bid.
“At this point, I hope she stays in the “race” and fights it out until the end!” he said. “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.”
