Nikki Haley drops out of US presidential race
The Republican Nikki Haley wants to withdraw from the race for the US presidential nomination.
This is reported by the “Wall Street Journal” and the US broadcaster CNN. This would clear the way for former President Trump.
According to media reports, Republican Nikki Haley wants to drop out of the race for her party’s presidential nomination. The 52-year-old is about to withdraw her application, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Haley would announce her retirement in a speech on Wednesday. There was no statement from her. The US broadcaster CNN also reported on the decision.
With her exit, Haley would clear the way for former incumbent Donald Trump to run again. Everything currently points to a new duel between Trump and the current Democratic US President Joe Biden, who wants to run for a second term and has no serious internal competition in his party.
Trump stronger on “Super Tuesday”
In the internal party primaries on Super Tuesday, Haley suffered a clear defeat as Trump’s party rival. She was only able to win the primary in Vermont, while the ex-president was ahead in 14 of 15 states according to forecasts and partial results.
It prevailed in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. Trump spoke to supporters at his private Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida about a “fantastic evening.”
Biden attacks Trump
Among the Democrats, President Biden won “Super Tuesday” in all states. He won in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
Only in the small US territory of American Samoa in the South Pacific did he suffer an internal party defeat. The largely unknown Jason Palmer received more votes there, but in the end both candidates each received three of the total six delegate votes.
Thanks to the successes on “Super Tuesday,” Biden is getting closer and closer to the necessary majority of delegate votes. Against this background, he was already concentrating on a confrontation with Trump. Biden said in a statement that he was “determined to destroy our democracy” and take away people’s fundamental freedoms. Trump will “do or say anything to bring himself to power.”
Nikki Haley could “pause” candidacy
However, Haley shouldn’t be completely out of the race. Former President Trump is conducting his election campaign under the auspices of numerous indictments and upcoming trials. It is not possible to predict whether there will be a verdict against him by election day – but if that happens, it could massively damage Trump and at least significantly reduce his election prospects or even cost him his candidacy.
Haley can be ready for this eventuality. That’s what their eliminated competitors like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are doing too – they’ve just “suspended” their candidacy. This gives them the opportunity to reactivate it if Trump withdraws.
Haley used the final phase of her election campaign to urgently warn her party about Trump. He is too consumed by chaos and personal resentment to win against Biden in the presidential election. The former governor of South Carolina and former UN ambassador was the first serious challenger to enter the race against the ex-president in February 2023.
The presidential candidates will not be officially chosen until party conferences in the summer. The actual presidential election is on November 5th.
