Nikki Haley on Wednesday suspended her Republican presidential campaign Wednesday — but refused to endorse former President Donald Trump for now.
After being crushed from coast to coast on Super Tuesday, the former UN ambassador urged Trump to work to earn the support of her and the coalition of mostly moderate and suburban Republicans who backed her campaign,
“It’s now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those who did not support him,” Haley said. “This is now his time for choosing.”
Haley spoke the morning after Trump rolled to an impressive victory on Super Tuesday, winning 14 out of 15 states including giant California and Texas and running up the score with about 80% of the vote in many primary states.
“The time has now come to suspend my campaign,” Haley said. “Although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
Haley doubled down on her unshakable support for a muscular foreign policy and aid to Ukraine, which many fellow Republicans want to abandon in the face of a Russian invasion.
She leaves the race with wins in tiny, deep-blue Vermont and Washington, D.C. along with respectable showings of more than 40% in independent-minded New Hampshire and about the same in her home state of South Carolina.
Haley quoted former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, another trailblazing female politician: “Never just follow the crowd.”
Haley threw in the towel after spending the last several weeks ramping up her once-tepid criticism of Trump.
She has slammed the twice-impeached, four times-indicted ex-president as unelectable and a danger to democracy, barbs that spurred Trump to angrily deride her as a Republican in name only and worse.
Haley refused to commit to backing Trump in the general election even though she joined other GOP candidates in signing a pledge to endorse the eventual party nominee.
In what amounted to a concession speech Wednesday, Haley softened those attacks significantly, suggesting she may be laying the groundwork to endorse Trump at some point.
“I wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America’s president,” she said. “Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us.”
Haley was the first major candidate to challenge Trump after he announced his run for a third straight Republican nomination.
She was later joined by heavyweights like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a raft of other candidates including Sen. Tim Scott, ex-N.J. Gov. Chris Christie and upstart entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
But Trump effectively cleared the field by eviscerating DeSantis with months of withering attacks. None of the other candidates really caught fire with the GOP voters, many of whom had backed Trump twice before.
Trump cleaned up with a big win in the Iowa caucuses, where Haley fell short of DeSantis in third place. Haley also fell short in New Hampshire, a state that looked like her best shot at an upset.
That set up a blowout win for Trump in South Carolina, a result that effectively delivered a knockout blow to Haley even though she soldiered on through Super Tuesday.
