Koch-backed network drops funding for Nikki Haley campaign after South Carolina defeat

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AFP Action, the conservative wing of the powerful and influential conservative Americans for Prosperity, funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, has pulled funding for the presidential campaign of Nikki Haley.

In an email to staffers obtained by Fox News, AFP Action senior adviser Emily Seidel said the group did not believe that "any outside group can make a material difference to widen [Haley’s] path to victory."

"And so while we will continue to endorse her, we will focus our resources where we can make the difference. And that’s the U.S. Senate and House," Seidel wrote.

The news was first reported by Politico earlier Sunday.

AFP Action endorsed Haley in November, giving her a major grassroots and organizational boost.

The deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network launched an ad blitz on behalf of Haley in January, including mailers, digital ads, and connected TV spots.

AFP Action, which pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars to help push the Republican Party past former President Trump as it endorsed Haley in late November, said last month it was putting an initial $27 million behind this new wave in their ongoing campaign.

TOP HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOUTH CAROLINA'S GOP PRIMARY WHERE TRUMP WON BIG, HALEY VOWED TO PRESS ON

The news came after Haley’s GOP rival, former President Trump, won the GOP primary in Haley’s home state of South