Following significant losses in the Republican primaries on Tuesday, Clemson alumna and board of trustee member Nikki Haley suspended her bid for the White House.
Haley lost 14 out of the 15 state primary elections on March 5, also known as Super Tuesday, winning only Vermont. Haley’s lone opponent, former President Donald Trump, won the remainder of the states and nearly 700 delegates, propelling him closer to the 1,215-delegate threshold needed to clinch the nomination.
Prior to the elections on Super Tuesday, Haley had only won one other primary election this past Sunday in Washington, D.C., where she defeated Trump by 30 points.
After polls closed in the final state, Alaska, on Tuesday night, Haley announced she would address her supporters in her home state of South Carolina. During her announcement, Haley suspended her campaign but refused to stop standing up for what she believes is best for the American people.
“I am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received from all across our great country, but the time has now come to suspend my campaign,” Haley said in her speech in Charleston. “I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard — I have done that. I have no regrets. And although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
I end my campaign with the same words I began it from the Book of Joshua. I direct them to all Americans, but especially to so many of the women and girls out there who put their faith in our campaign.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For God… pic.twitter.com/XAwgOGzKdy
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) March 6, 2024
Last month, South Carolinians denied their two-time former governor any home-field advantage in the state’s Republican primary race. Trump defeated his former UN ambassador by a 20-point margin.
Haley did not endorse Trump for president during her remarks on Wednesday morning. Instead, she challenged him to win over the more moderate and independent voters who thus far had supported her.
“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,” she said. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”
With Haley currently out of the race, it is looking more likely than ever that America will have a rematch of the highly contested 2020 presidential election between incumbent President Joe Biden and Trump.
Although she has stated she is not interested in being on a Trump ticket, Haley did make history during her campaign as the first female candidate to win a Republican primary election.
