Haley says she raised a strong $12M in February, but can’t point to long-term plan to beat Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Friday that she raised $12 million in February, a haul that will likely allow her to remain in the Republican primary against former President Donald Trump past next week’s Super Tuesday — even though she can’t point to an upcoming state where she thinks she’ll beat him.

The former ambassador to the United Nations noted that she outraised Trump in January and insisted that the donations have continued to flow despite her not having a long-term plan to challenge — or even really dent — the former president’s commanding lead in the primary.

“When I go into a fundraiser,” she said Friday, “They don’t ask me, ‘What’s your strategy?’ They don’t ask me, ‘What’s your plan?’ All they say is, ‘Thank you for giving me hope.’”

Haley’s announced February total has not yet been verified by official campaign finance filings. Still, Haley argues that another strong month with donors shows that Republicans are hungry for a viable alternative to Trump. Haley, who is also a former South Carolina governor, is the last Trump challenger standing from a field that was once crowded with more than a dozen Republican White House candidates.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Super Tuesday’s presidential nominating contests </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Nikki Haley can’t win the Republican primary with 40%. But she can expose some of Trump’s weaknesses