NEW YORK (AP) — Nikki Haley He suspended his presidential campaign on Wednesday and withdrew after being defeated nationwide on Super Tuesday Donald Trump As the last major contender for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Haley did not endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, he challenged moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported him.
“Now it's up to Donald Trump to get the votes of those in our party and beyond who don't support him. I hope he does,” he said. “Politics is about bringing people to your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause needs more people.
Former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Haley was Trump's first significant challenger. Jumped into the race In February 2023, he spent the final stretch of his campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, who he argued was too confused and personal grudges to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.
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His departure clears Trump up to focus solely on a rematch with Biden in November. The former president is on track to do just that Reach the required 1,215 delegates The Republican nomination should be up for grabs later this month.
Haley's defeat was a painful blow to voters, donors and Republican officials who opposed Trump and his “Make America Great Again” politics. He was particularly popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that play a key role in general elections. It's unclear whether Trump, who recently announced that Haley donors will be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unite the deeply divided party.
Trump announced Tuesday night that the GOP was united behind him, but shortly afterward, Haley's spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubaz said, “Unity is not achieved by simply saying, 'We are united.'
“Today, state after state, there is a large segment of Republican primary voters who express deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubaz said. “That is not the unity needed for our party to win. Addressing those voters' concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.
Haley has made it clear that she does not want to serve as Trump's vice president or run on a third-party ticket organized by the No Labels group. He leaves the race with a heightened national profile that could help him in a future presidential run.
Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Forth Worth, Texas, Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Trump, in a social media post, mocked her while “calling on all Haley supporters to join the biggest movement in our nation's history. Biden is the enemy, he is destroying our country,” he wrote. “Make America great again!!!”
On Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who supported Haley, acknowledging that Trump had previously rejected his supporters.
“Donald Trump has made it clear he doesn't like Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: They have a place in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement. “I know there's a lot we won't agree on. But I hope we can find common ground on the fundamental issues of protecting American democracy, standing up for the rule of law, treating each other with dignity and respect and protecting NATO and standing up to America's enemies.”
Republican Nikki Haley is suspending her campaign. AP reporter Julie Walker reports.
By being on the campaign trail until now, Haley received adequate support Suburbanites and college-educated voters highlight Trump's obvious weaknesses with those groups.
In an AP VoteCast poll of Republican primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, 61% to 76% of Haley's supporters said they would be so dissatisfied they wouldn't vote for Trump if he became the GOP nominee. November general election. Voters in early Republican primary races who said they would not vote for Trump in the fall represented a small but significant electorate: 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters and one-quarter of South Carolina voters.
Haley is leaving the 2024 presidential race having made history by becoming the first woman to win a Republican primary. He defeated Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and Vermont on Tuesday.
she He insisted on staying in the race He campaigned in Republican primary states across the country through Super Tuesday. In the end, she couldn't knock Trump off his skid for a third straight nomination.
Haley's allies note that she has done more than most of the political world expected.
She had Initially rejected Running against Trump in 2024. But he changed his mind and launched his bid three months after he did, citing the country's economic woes and the need for a “generational change,” among other things. Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over 75 — knocking both Trump, 77, and Biden, 81.
His candidacy was slow to attract donors and support, but he eventually outlasted all other GOP contenders, including the Florida governor. Ron DeSantisFormer Vice President Mike Pence And Sen. Tim Scott, his fellow South Carolinian who was appointed to the Senate in 2012. And the money flowed to the end. His campaign said it raised more than $12 million in February alone.
He has become popular with many Republican donors, independent voters and the “Never Trump” crowd, who have criticized the criminal charges against him as politically motivated and have promised to pardon him if he is convicted in federal court if he becomes president.
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Kinnard reported from Washington. Reach out to Meg Kinnard http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAPand reach out to Steve Peoples http://twitter.com/sppeoples.
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