Nikki Haley Still Won't Drop Out Of 2024 Race After South Carolina Primary

Nikki Haley once again refused to end her bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Saturday, even after an apparent loss to former President Donald Trump in South Carolina’s primary election.

Haley was elected governor of the Southern state twice, leaving in 2017 to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration.

She has since become one of his biggest critics in the GOP.

“I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden,” she said in a speech Saturday at her election night watch party at Charleston Place, a swanky hotel in downtown Charleston not far from Haley’s Kiawah Island home. She addressed the upbeat crowd at 8:30, an hour and a half after polls closed and the race was, immediately, called for Trump.

Her comments echoed those from a speech she gave just days prior that was cryptically touted as an address on “the state of the presidential race,” leading to some speculation about the state of her campaign.

“Despite being a de facto incumbent, Donald Trump lost 49% of the vote in Iowa. In New Hampshire, Trump lost 46% of the vote. That’s not good. We’re talking about almost half of our voters,” Haley said Tuesday.

“What does it say about an incumbent who’s losing nearly half of his party? It spells disaster in November.”

Haley has repeatedly pledged to stay in, at least through Super Tuesday, despite underperforming in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

“I said earlier this week, that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president,” she said Saturday. “I’m a woman of my word.”

“South Carolina has spoken. We’re the fourth state to do so. In the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice,