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The South Carolina primary is the next important date before the US election.
Trump challenger Nikki Haley accuses Republicans of having a “herd mentality.”
Greenville, S.C. - Nikki Haley struck a defiant tone Tuesday as she vowed not to give up on the Republican primary any time soon and stepped up her attacks on front-runner Donald Trump.
Despite mediocre poll numbers and facing an expected defeat in her home state of South Carolina this weekend, the state's former governor said she was "far from" dropping out of the race.
Haley vowed to stay in the race at least until after Super Tuesday.
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Haley vs. Trump before the US election: polls indicate defeat
Haley finished third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire, and finished an embarrassing second to the "none of these candidates" option in the Nevada primary, where Trump did not run.
Public polls show that she is clearly losing to Trump in South Carolina despite her popularity as governor there.
Trump leads Haley among likely Republican primary voters in that state, 63 percent to 35 percent , according to a new poll from Suffolk University and
USA Today
released Tuesday.
In her speech on Tuesday, in which she compared herself to David fighting Goliath, Haley also addressed Republicans who have rallied behind Trump despite denying him behind closed doors.
She blamed this on a “herd mentality,” arguing that many of her Republican colleagues had given in to that mentality.
Former GOP presidential candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott (South Carolina) criticized Trump during the campaign but quickly endorsed him after they ended their candidacies.
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Haley in the US election campaign: “Don’t be afraid of Trump’s retaliation”
In her speech, Haley said that unlike her previous opponents, she "feels no need to kiss the ring."
“I’m not afraid of Trump’s retaliation,” she said.
“I don't expect anything from him.” Haley's promise to stay in the race is consistent with her recent comments on the campaign trail.
Nevertheless, she was repeatedly asked about her intention to stay the course.
After South Carolina, Haley has events planned in Michigan - the next state to vote - and the Super Tuesday elections in Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Washington, DC, North Carolina and Massachusetts.
After Tuesday's event, her campaign announced a new ad buy that will launch Wednesday morning in Michigan.
At the start of the primaries, Haley said she would support Trump if he ultimately became the Republican presidential nominee.
On Sunday, in an interview with
ABC
's "This Week," she declined to say whether that was still the case, despite being repeatedly asked about it by host Jonathan Karl.
Instead, Haley said she is running against Trump because she believes he should not be president again.
On Tuesday, she reiterated this, saying Trump was "getting meaner and more abusive every day."
Presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign rally © MCKENZIE LANGE/Staff/Imago
US election 2024: Trump team calls Haley a “whining loser”
Ahead of Haley's comments, the Trump campaign sent out a memo calling Haley a "whining loser bent on an alternate reality" who refuses to "confront her impending political mortality."
In her speech Tuesday, Haley discussed her record in the primaries so far, noting that naysayers continue to claim that her "path to victory is narrow."
The former UN ambassador then set her sights on another major candidate for the White House - US President Joe Biden.
Throughout her campaign, Haley has argued that both Trump and Biden are "too old" to be president, an argument she repeated on Tuesday.
“Trump and Biden are two old men who are only getting older,” she said.
“They are dividers at a time when America desperately and desperately needs a unifier.”
Alfaro reported from Washington.
To the authors
Mariana Alfaro
is a reporter for The Washington Post's political news team.
The native of El Salvador has been working for the post office since 2019.
Previously, Mariana interned at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Insider, and The Texas Tribune.
Dylan Wells
is a campaign reporter at The Washington Post.
She previously covered Congress and campaigns at USA Today, National Journal Hotline and CNN.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German and is now available in an abbreviated version.
This article was first published in English on February 20, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.