Nikki Haley ended her long-shot challenge to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Wednesday, ensuring the former president will be the party’s candidate in a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November’s election.
Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, bowed out a day after Super Tuesday, when Trump beat her soundly in 14 of 15 Republican nominating contests.
“The time has now come to suspend my campaign,” Haley told supporters during a speech in Charleston. “I have no regrets.”
She said it was likely Trump – who repeatedly belittled her candidacy – would be the Republican nominee but did not endorse him.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him,” she said. “And I hope he does that.”
Just as Haley was conceding the race, he criticized her before inviting her supporters to join him. “Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social media platform.
In contrast, Biden praised Haley for daring to “speak the truth” about Trump and extended his own invitation to her supporters.
“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement.
Haley lasted longer than any other Republican challenger to Trump but never posed a serious threat to the former president, whose iron grip on the party’s base remains firm despite multiple criminal indictments.
The rematch between Trump and Biden the first repeat U.S. presidential contest since 1956 is one that few Americans want. Opinion polls show both Biden and Trump have low approval ratings among voters.
The election promises to be deeply divisive in a country already riven by political polarization. Biden has cast Trump as an existential danger to democratic principles, while Trump has sought to re-litigate his false claims that he won in 2020.
Haley drew support from deep-pocketed donors intent on stopping Trump from winning a third consecutive Republican presidential nomination, particularly after she notched a series of strong performances at debates that Trump opted to skip.
She ultimately failed to pry loose enough conservative voters.
But her stronger showing among moderate Republicans and independents highlighted how Trump’s scorched-earth style of politics could make him vulnerable in the Nov. 5 election against Biden.
Analysts, however, say her long-shot bid reflects how ironclad Trump’s hold over the party has become. Nevertheless, her campaign gave voice to the anxieties some Republicans harbour.
“There is some angst in elite Republican circles that Trump comes with a lot of baggage and that they could do better with someone else,” Osita Nwanevu, a writer on US politics, told Al Jazeera. “Haley was the candidate who embodied that concern, that sticking with Trump could hurt the party.”
But that message failed to resonate beyond pockets of moderate voters. Haley announced her campaign’s suspension in the aftermath of the Super Tuesday primary votes. With 15 states up for grabs, she only managed to secure one: left-leaning Vermont.
Haley ultimately finished the race on Wednesday with just 89 party delegates to Trump’s 995. Delegates ultimately decide who receives the party nomination.
“In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July. I congratulate him and wish him well,” Haley said in her announcement on Wednesday.
However, Haley stopped short of endorsing Trump, instead calling on him to win over voters who may have doubts about his candidacy.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him,” she said.