Nikki Haley Says She Will Stay In Race Through Super Tuesday

The Republican primary has been whittled down to two major candidates – former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump.

Haley said in an interview that she plans to keep running through at least Super Tuesday, when 16 states and territories hold their primaries, representing a third of delegates.

She would not comment on her plans beyond Super Tuesday when pushed on Meet The Press. “I have every intention of going to Super Tuesday. Through Super Tuesday we’re going to keep on going and see where this gets us,” Haley said.

Haley, who placed third in the Iowa caucuses, was a much closer second in New Hampshire, coming within 11 points of Trump.

Now, she has shifted her focus to her home state of South Carolina. She is polling far behind Trump in the state but vows to do better there than she did in New Hampshire, although that doesn’t require a win.

“I need to show that I’m strong in South Carolina,” she said. “Does that have to be a win? I don’t think that necessarily has to be a win, but it certainly has to be better than what I did in New Hampshire. It certainly has to be close.”

Haley has faced more and more attacks from Trump as she remains steadfast in her refusal to step aside and let him coast to the nomination. Trump has falsely claimed she is ineligible to be president due to her parents being immigrants. He has labeled her with the moniker “Birdbrain” and has said on Truth Social, “Anyone who makes a contribution to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”

Haley responded by admonishing Trump’s bullying, saying, “I think, you know, the fact that he continues to go down these paths of saying things, you know, is this who we want as President? Is this who we want our kids to see? I don’t think so, and look, he’s just going to become more unhinged.”

The Haley campaign sold 15,000 “permanently banned” shirts after Trump’s Truth Social post.

Haley seems to have little support from within her party. RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said, “I just don’t see it for Nikki,” signaling for her party to rally around Trump.

The RNC even floated a plan to label Trump as the “presumptive nominee,” which they later dropped. This drew criticism from Haley, who said, the RNC is “clearly not an honest broker in the party’s primary race.”

Haley’s campaign is long, but they have stated they are looking toward support in states with open primaries, where anyone, Democrat, Republican or Independent can vote in the primaries.