Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is the only remaining challenger to former US President Donald Trump as the Republican primary race enters its third month.
The primaries will determine who is the Republican presidential candidate and who will challenge President Joe Biden in November’s presidential election.
Trump has won all but one of the 11 primaries and caucuses so far, totaling 276 delegates to Haley’s 43. (Haley earned her first win last weekend in Washington, D.C., in a race that had long been predicted to go her way.) Won 15 states on March 5, known as Super Tuesday Republicans were divided over whether Haley should continue running or stay out of the way of the former president.
Bob Carreto, a Trump supporter from Chalmette, Louisiana, explained: “If you’re a Democrat, you probably want Haley to stay in the race because she distracts from Trump Focus on beating Biden.” “But if you’re a real Republican, you want her out of the primary as soon as possible.”
“She’s forcing Trump to spend money to defeat her, which is bad for the Republican Party,” Carretto said. “But the reality is, she has no chance, so she should quit.”
Although Trump has won every race so far, not all voters who are likely to vote Republican this November think Haley should drop out.
“I think it’s very brave of her to stay in the race, especially considering that Trump is a crazy egoist who will attack any challenge,” Abby Lacomb, an independent voter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told VOA. His people.”
“She faced a lot of attacks for refusing to quit, but she gave people who voted Republican a choice – to choose someone other than Trump, a man who has shown no regard for democracy,” Lacomb said. Respectful politician.”
Haley’s campaign did not respond to VOA’s request for comment when asked what she would say to those who question why she continues to run.
hard battle
The Trump campaign has insisted on undermining Haley’s challenge
Highlighting her many missteps at the ballot box. In her home state of South Carolina, for example, the former president received 60 percent of the vote to her 40 percent.
In Michigan, a more moderate state, independent voters — considered more receptive to Haley’s message — were allowed to vote in the Republican primary. Still, in the state’s most recent primary, Trump won by a larger margin (68% to 27%).
“She can’t say which state she can win, let alone be competitive in,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement last week.
The Haley campaign did not respond to VOA’s request for comment when asked about what she thinks she can win on Super Tuesday and beyond.
On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” talk show, Haley said, “I think we’re going to fight. There are 16 states and territories voting on Tuesday. So a lot of people’s voices are going to be heard. And that’s The purpose of it all.”
Most political experts, such as University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock, think it will be difficult for Haley to defeat the former president.
“I think it’s probably too late for her,” he explained to VOA. “This is Trump’s party, and he controls the electorate. This is a voter-driven party, and voters will support him no matter what — probably until he dies or withdraws from public view.”
Bullock, however, believes the Republican faithful may abandon him.
“A belief,” he said. “Polls show that a significant number of voters will abandon him if he is convicted of one of the several crimes he is accused of. I think Haley may be waiting in the hope that she can collect his votes if convicted.”
Trump faces 91 charges across four trials, including accusations that he illegally tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, whether he illegally took highly classified documents with him when he left office and whether he falsified hush-money payments related to porn actors relevant documents.
He denies all charges.
Motivation to continue competing
A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month found that 51% of Republican voters said Trump would be repressed if he were convicted of any of the 91 felony charges against him in four criminal trials. They wouldn’t have voted for Trump. Another 25% said they were unsure how they would vote in this situation.
Fifty-eight percent said they would not vote for Trump if he served time in prison in November.
While experts like Bullock believe Trump’s conviction may be the reason Haley continues to run, others say she may have other motives.
Henry Olson, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, believes that Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, hopes that if he can win a few states, he can obtain concessions from Trump at the Republican National Convention.
“She’s been spending time in more moderate states and states that allow independent voters to participate in Republican primaries,” Olson said. He added, “States like Minnesota, where Marco Rubio won in 2016 Trump was defeated in the primary, and in Colorado, moderate Republican Sen. Joe O’Day defeated his Trump-backed opponent by a wide margin.”
“Utah, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine are all in the same boat, and if she can win five states, Republican rules will give her more time and leverage to express her support for Trump at the convention. Objection,” Olson continued. “These wins will be a stretch for her, but if she gets them, Trump’s team will want to avoid any negative attention at the convention and may be willing to make concessions that are important to her, like committing to Support NATO.”
Other experts, such as Cleveland State University political scientist David Stark, believe Haley may have an eye on the 2028 presidential election.
“I just don’t think Haley has a path to the nomination this cycle,” Stack told VOA. “Her best bet to win on Super Tuesday is probably in Vermont, but even there, her poll numbers It’s also down about 30%.”
“The question, then, is why is she staying in the race?” Stack said. “I think this may be an attempt to raise her profile and raise donations for future elections. If she has a lot of money in the bank after Super Tuesday, it may be a sign that she is raising money for the future.”
alternatives to trump
For her part, Haley insists her focus is on the present, where she believes she is the Republican Party’s best chance of unseating President Joe Biden.
“This has never been about me or my political future,” Haley said last week after losing the South Carolina primary. “We need to beat Joe Biden in November. I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden. Trump drives people away almost every day.”
She added: “I’m an accountant. I know that 40% is not 50%, but I also know that 40% is not a small group. In our Republican primaries, there were a lot of people who said they wanted alternatives.”
Jason Winder, a Republican from Uinta County, Utah, said he is one of those voters and is looking forward to voting for Haley on Tuesday.
“I like the idea of having a choice, and I’m happy to still be able to express my dissent with Trump by supporting people who were not involved in the January 6 insurrection,” Wind told VOA. “I want Republican leadership. Wake up. He lost the popular vote in 2016 and 2020, and I think the margin will be even wider this year. At least Nikki Haley gave us a chance.”
Haley told supporters at a rally in Minnesota this week that Trump can’t win the election if he loses 40% of the vote, while polls show a significant number of Republicans believe Trump is too extreme to defeat Biden. Nearly 9 in 10 Haley voters in South Carolina said they were dissatisfied with Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.
As a result, the former governor continues to receive support in the form of fundraising dollars and endorsements from Republican moderates.
On Friday, Haley received the endorsement of two of the party’s most moderate senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Despite this support, many in the party, including Trump’s most ardent supporters, continue to urge Haley to drop out of the race.
“I actually like Nikki Haley and would vote for her if she were the nominee,” explained Harvey Wasserman, a resident of Daytona Beach, Florida. “But I’ve voted for Trump twice and I will vote again in the primaries. I don’t think she can win, so it’s time for her to cede the stage to Trump so he can focus on Biden Logged in.”
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