Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) has vowed to stay in the GOP presidential primary despite losing the first two contests by a wide margin — prompting even her allies in the establishment to urge her to drop out, including embattled Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Following former president and current GOP primary frontrunner Donald Trump’s historic victory in New Hampshire’s GOP primary, where he broke the record for the most votes ever received by a primary candidate in the state, McDaniel appeared on Fox News to urge Haley to drop out of the race.
McDaniel, who is also facing calls to resign from her position as RNC chairwoman due to her failures and clear pro-establishment bias, declared in the interview that Haley has no path to victory and thus should drop out so that Trump can focus on beating President Joe Biden.
“Looking at the math and the path going forward and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley,” McDaniel explained.
“I think she’s run a great campaign, but I do think there is a message that’s coming out from the voters, which is very clear,” she added. “We need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump, and we need to make sure we beat Joe Biden.”
“It is 10 months away till the November election, and we can’t wait any longer to put our foot on the gas to beat the worst president, to beat a president that’s kept our borders open, allowed fentanyl to pour through, allowed inflation to go rampant,” McDaniel continued, noting that Biden “is hurting the American people and we need to do everything we can to unite so that we can defeat him.”
RNC chair Ronna McDaniel encourages Nikki Haley to drop out. pic.twitter.com/V9sa68jqF8
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 24, 2024
Ignoring the criticism, Haley has vowed to continue in the race, expressing optimism for her chances in the next major primary, which takes place in her home state of South Carolina.
While the next actual contest takes place in Nevada, the state has attempted to circumvent the GOP’s plans — as the Nevada Republican Party is holding a caucus, while the state has decided to hold a primary. The GOP convention will only award delegates based on the caucuses, which benefits Trump. The former president will be on the ballot for the caucuses but not the primary, while Haley put her name on the primary and not the caucus.
Meanwhile, during his victory speech on Tuesday evening, Trump called out Haley for “doing like a speech like she won. She didn’t, she lost.”
He then predicted a decisive victory for himself in Haley’s home state of South Carolina, which the polls indicate as the likely outcome.
“We’ll head out to South Carolina where I think we’re going to win easily,” Trump said. “I think we’re 50 points up … on a person that was governor, that tells you something, but I felt I should do this because I find it a life you can’t let people get away with bulls—t, okay. And when I watched her, the fancy dress, it probably wasn’t so fancy, come up I said what is she doing? We won. And she did the same thing last week.”
Trump calls out Nikki Haley for pretending that she's winning:
"You can't let people get away with bullsh*t." pic.twitter.com/Rcbjr462tK
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 24, 2024