Trump’s commanding victories in the earliest-voting states all but extinguished any remaining doubt that he is fully in control of the Republican Party, even as he remains enmeshed in civil and criminal trials in multiple jurisdictions.
In recent weeks Haley effectively staked her candidacy on New Hampshire, where she earned the support of the popular governor, Chris Sununu, and the storied Union Leader newspaper. The former UN ambassador tried to appeal to Trump-weary independent and moderate voters by calling the former president an agent of “chaos.”
Trump attacked Haley viciously. He mocked her Indian first name and falsely suggested she was ineligible to be president because she wasn’t born in the United States. Haley’s parents emigrated from India and settled in South Carolina in the 1960s.
Trump moved aggressively in recent days to spotlight the support he has received from prominent Republicans, looking to convey that the party is rallying around him. On the eve of the primary, he campaigned in Laconia with three former rivals-turned-supporters — Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. And this week, he won the support of his former arch nemesis, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the race and endorsed the former president.
“Nikki Haley said she’s running to stop the reelection of Harris-Biden. Yet, without a viable path to victory, every day she stays in this race is another day she delivers to the Harris-Biden campaign. It’s time for unity, it’s time to take the fight to the Democrats, and for Nikki Haley: it’s time to drop out,” Taylor Budowich, CEO of the Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., said in a statement after the race was called.
On Saturday night, Trump was joined onstage at a rally by nearly every major statewide Republican from South Carolina, Haley’s home state.
The contest now turns to Nevada, where Trump is running essentially unopposed in next month’s caucuses. From there, it will head to South Carolina, where polls show him with a wide lead.
