Nikki Haley rejects calls to drop out of GOP race: ‘I am not going anywhere’

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Nikki Haley isn’t going anywhere.

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina made that clear Tuesday when she rejected calls for her to drop out of the Republican presidential nomination race.

Ms. Haley said the last thing voters want is to live through a rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“South Carolina will vote on Saturday, but on Sunday I will still be running for president,” Ms Haley said. “I am not going anywhere.”

“Dropping out would be the easy route, I have never taken the easy route,” she said.

Mr. Trump has dominated the GOP race. Ms. Haley finished third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire and was the runner-up to the “None of these candidates” ballot option in the Nevada primary, which did not include Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump is expected to notch more wins over the coming weeks, starting with Saturday’s primary in South Carolina and then in the dozen-plus Super Tuesday primary contest on March 5.

Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, senior advisers to the Trump campaign, released a memo before Ms. Haley’s speech, saying that the reality is there is no path for her to win enough delegates to secure the nomination and that the former president will lock up the race next month.

“Of course, like any wailing loser hell-bent on an alternative reality and refusing to come to grips with her imminent political mortality, we should expect more references to Kings and Coronations — even though the results of 5 elections overwhelmingly sent an unmistaken message: Nikki Haley doesn’t represent Republicans any more than Joe Biden does,” Mr. LaCivita and Ms. Wiles said.

“This is the diagnosis she refuses to accept: The end is near,” they said.

Ms. Haley pushed back. She said the race has just begun and she is not like other Republicans who “privately dread” Mr. Trump but have surrendered to the herd mentality by publicly supporting him.

“I feel no need to kiss the ring,” she said. “And I have no fear of Trump’s retribution.”

Early voting is underway in the primary in South Carolina, where Ms. Haley served as governor from 2011 to 2017.

She had hoped for some home cooking in the primary. Instead, she faces the prospect of a blowout loss.

Ms. Haley, however, has vowed since the New Hampshire primary last month to stay in the race at least through the Super Tuesday contests.

Her campaign announced she will start airing a new television ad in Michigan on Wednesday that argues it is time for a new generational conservative leader.

Ms. Haley has received strong financial support. Some Republicans also are urging her to say in the race through the Republican National Convention this summer — partly out of concern the party might decide to switch gears if Mr. Trump becomes a convicted felon.

In her speech Tuesday, Ms. Haley alluded to Mr. Trump’s legal troubles, warning that he has been spending more time in the courtroom than on the campaign trail and that his legal expenses are sucking away resources that should be funneled into efforts to defeat Mr. Biden.

She said voters should not be forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, adding that Mr. Trump is a flawed candidate who has hurt the party in general election contests.

“At the end of the day, the only candidate who’s helping Joe Biden is Donald Trump, because Trump is the only Republican Biden can beat,” Ms. Haley said.

“It’s America Last to keep losing one election after another to the Socialist Left,” she said. “That’s what we get with Donald Trump.”