Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday morning she would be suspending her presidential campaign after a poor showing on Super Tuesday.
“I am filled with gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received all across our great country, but the time has now come to suspend my campaign,” Haley began onstage in her home state.
While congratulating the presumptive nominee, former President Donald Trump, Haley stopped short of endorsing him.
“I have no regrets,” she said, adding: “And although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
The first Republican to challenge Trump, Haley is now the last to drop out, having stayed in the race longer than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and others.
A steady critic of the former president, Haley said it was time for him to “earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support [him].”
Among the 15 states that held primary elections Tuesday, Haley came away winning only one — Vermont. Her victory there came as a surprise, but it still puts her very far from the number of delegates needed to seriously challenge Trump. Days earlier, she had won the Republican primary in Washington, D.C.
Trump relished Haley’s losses, writing on Truth Social shortly before her announcement that he would “like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation.”
Haley had attempted to distinguish herself as a candidate with her critiques of both Trump and President Joe Biden over their age and abilities. She argued that Trump was too divisive a candidate to beat Biden in November and that conservative voters wanted a real alternative on the ballot, as evidenced by the support for her campaign.
She also tried staking out a more moderate position on abortion and the war in Ukraine than some of her Republican opponents.
But she ultimately could not break Trump’s grip on the Republican Party, which held even as the former president refused to take the debate stage with any of his challengers.
Americans for Prosperity Action, a PAC associated with the billionaire Koch family, withdrew their support for Haley’s campaign late last month after her defeat in South Carolina’s primary.
Moments after Haley’s announcement, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell broke his silence on the 2024 race to endorse Trump in spite of their public spats in recent years.
Biden said in a statement that despite her loss, Haley had nevertheless displayed “a lot of courage” by running for president.
“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.
“I know there is a lot we won’t agree on,” he continued. “But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”