Nikki Haley Exits but Doesn't Endorse Trump

She urges him to 'earn' the votes of her supporters: 'This is now his time for choosing'
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2024 9:29 AM CST
Nikki Haley Exits but Doesn't Endorse Trump
Nikki Haley speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Charleston, S.C.   (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Vermont wasn't enough on Super Tuesday. Nikki Haley confirmed her exit from the 2024 race on Wednesday with a brief speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Notably, she didn't endorse Donald Trump in her remarks, but she urged him to embrace the more moderate voters who backed her campaign:

  • "The time has now come to suspend my campaign," said Haley. "I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets."
  • "In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee," Haley said, per the New York Times. "I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America's president." She added, "This is now his time for choosing."
  • "I have always been a conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee," Haley said, per the Washington Post. "But on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, quote, 'Never just follow the crowd. Always make up your own mind.' It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that."
  • Her remarks leave open the possibility that she will endorse Trump closer to the general election, notes CNN.
(More Nikki Haley 2024 stories.)

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