Nikki Haley Backs Out Of 2024 Presidential Race With One Last Swipe At Donald Trump

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley announced she was dropping out of the GOP presidential race on Wednesday, March 6, clearing the path for former President Donald Trump to become the likeliest Republican candidate in the 2024 election. Haley previously told the press she would continue her campaign until Super Tuesday, March 5. By that night, it was clear Haley had failed to acquire the delegates needed to beat out the former president. But unlike so many of the GOP presidential hopefuls who suspended their campaign before her, Haley didn't endorse her political opponent. Instead, she offered a bit of advice.

"I have always been a conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee, but on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, 'Never follow the crowd. Always make up your own mind.' It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the vote — those in our party and beyond it who did not support him," Haley said in her concession speech (via CNN).

Haley's history with Trump is complex, to say the least. She was formerly part of the Trump administration as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and she was even rumored to have an affair with the former president — an accusation she quickly shut down. She hasn't always agreed with him, though, notably breaking with Trump last year over how she feels about Kim Jong Un, disagreeing with Trump's friendly overtures towards the North Korean leader. 

Due to former President Donald Trump's refusal to participate in GOP debates leading up to the November election, most interaction between the Republican frontrunner and his political opponent, Nikki Haley, has been through the press and social media. Haley, who has famously swayed between supporting and criticizing the former administration that employed her, became more direct with her denunciation of Trump.

Just weeks before Haley suspended her campaign, the former governor called out Trump for comments he made about her husband, Michael Haley. After Trump questioned why Michael was absent from her campaign, Nikki responded on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about. Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief." She later told NBC she believes Trump is "not qualified to be the president."

With Haley out of the race, we'll likely see a repeat of the 2020 election with Donald Trump against incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden. Although Trump hasn't announced his 2024 pick for vice president, it's doubtful that he would select Haley. Even Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has had harsh words about Haley and the possibility of her becoming VP. "I would go to great lengths to make sure that doesn't happen," Donald Jr. said on Newsmax's "Eric Bolling the Balance" show in December.