Nikki Haley vowed to stay in the race regardless of the primary results in her home state.
In a Feb. 20 speech, Ms. Haley reiterated that she will move on to the March 5 Super Tuesday primary. This is despite polls showing Ms. Haley losing badly to former President Donald Trump.
“Some of you, perhaps a few of you in the media, came here today to see if I’m dropping out of the race,” she said. “Well, I’m not.”
Ms. Haley listed issues facing the United States domestically and abroad, from the economy to the rule of law to the military.
“But instead of focusing on how to make America stronger tomorrow, some people want to know if I’m going to cave today,” she said.
“We’ve all heard the calls for me to drop out. We all know where they’re coming from. The political elite, the party bosses, the cheerleaders in the commentator world. The argument is familiar.”
She cited sentiments from those groups, including them saying her chances are slim to delaying a rematch between President Trump and President Joe Biden.
She lamented Republicans who have come out in support of President Trump.
“The pressure on them was way too much. They didn’t want to be left out of the club. Of course, many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace Trump privately dread him. They know what a disaster he’s been and will continue to be for our party. They’re just too afraid to say it out loud,” she said.
“Well, I’m not afraid to say the hard truth out loud,” she continued. “I feel no need to kiss the ring. I have no fear of Trump’s retribution.”
Ms. Haley went on to say that her “political future is of zero concern.”
“South Carolina will vote on Saturday,” she said. “But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere.
“I’m campaigning every day until the last person votes because I believe in a better America and a brighter future for kids,” she continued.
Ms. Haley remarked that she is unafraid to take the tough road to victory and compared her campaign to the biblical story of King David winning over a lion.
Ms. Haley swatted down chatter that she is running to be President Trump’s vice president and laying the groundwork for a future campaign.
“I’ll keep fighting until the American people close the door. That day is not today. And it won’t be on Saturday,” she said, despite her long odds. “Not by a longshot. The presidential primaries have barely begun. Just three states have voted.”
Ms. Haley went on to say that the American people deserve a real choice in the GOP primary as opposed to “a Soviet-style election where there’s only one candidate and he gets 99 percent of the vote.” That remark comes ahead of next month’s election in Russia as President Vladimir Putin is guaranteed a term of six more years.
“We don’t have kings in this country. We have elections,” said Ms. Haley. “Donald Trump, of all people, should know we don’t rig elections.”
Ms. Haley stated that Americans do not “want more chaos and craziness” –even though a Biden-Trump rematch is all but guaranteed. Nonetheless, she said, she will stay in the race as long as possible.
“Now, I know what Donald Trump is saying,” she said. “He wants an election with no opponent, but that’s not what the voters are saying.”
Ms. Haley cited that almost half of GOP voters so far have voted against President Trump, and therefore, those figures do not bode well in a general election. She went as far as to say that President Trump is “the only candidate who’s helping Joe Biden” as “Trump is the only Republican Biden can beat; the Democrats know it.”
Haley Criticizes Biden, Trump
Ms. Haley blasted President Biden and President Trump. She said that the former is responsible for the crisis at the southern border, schools being “more focused on gender pronouns than reading and math,” drastic increases in consumer prices and crime, and “wars raging in Europe and the Middle East.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Haley criticized President Trump for insulting military veterans and heroes, spending $50 million in campaign contributions on legal fees, threatening those who back his opponents, and not minding if Russia goes beyond Ukraine and invades a NATO country, which would, as Ms. Haley noted, cause a war. Article Five of NATO states that an attack on one member is an attack on all, necessitating a collective response, including military action.
Ms. Haley also went after President Trump for adding $8 trillion to the national debt and proposing a 10 percent tariff on imports that, in turn, would essentially be a tax increase on Americans.
Finally, Ms. Haley called for civility in the United States and, emotionally, gave a shoutout to her husband, Michael Haley, who is deployed in Africa with the South Carolina National Guard.
She said that she will continue to make her case for the White House “because America is worth living for,” as there have been those who sacrificed their lives for the United States.
Ms. Haley’s remarks come as she faces long odds in the GOP primary with rules that critics say favor the former president. She is down big in the polls in South Carolina and the states that follow the state’s primary. A candidate needs 1,215 delegate votes to secure the GOP nomination. South Carolina is a state where the winner takes all 50 delegates.
During Super Tuesday, all but five of the states have an open primary or semi-open primary. They include Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont, Maine, North Carolina, and Texas. The open and semi-open primaries could present opportunities for cross-over and independent voters to cast their ballot for Ms. Haley.
President Trump’s team fired a preemptive strike against Ms. Haley in advance of her speech.
In a campaign memo issued on Feb. 20, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote, “The end is near for Nikki Haley.” They say the former United Nations ambassador is poised for a humiliating primary election loss this Saturday in her home state of South Carolina, where she had served as governor.
Janice Hisle contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
