While not explicitly saying she should drop out, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel urged former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to drop out of the Republican presidential race Tuesday night, saying she sees ‘no math and path’ for Haley to win the GOP nomination over President Donald Trump and that she should “reflect” on her candidacy. McDaniel made her remarks in an interview on Fox News, saying the message from voters is the party needs to “unite around our eventual nominee which is gonna be Donald Trump.”
Haley suffered her second straight double digit loss to Trump in New Hampshire Tuesday night. Last week Haley placed a distant third to Trump in the Iowa caucus.
Haley vowed Tuesday night to remain in the race.
The next GOP votes that award delegates are the Nevada caucus on February 8 in which Haley is not on the ballot and the South Carolina primary on February 24 where Haley is trailing Trump by 40 points in a recent poll pf the state conducted by Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio.
2024 South Carolina Republican Primary (Shift since 11/14):
Trump 64% (+11)
Haley 25% (+1)
DeSantis 8% (-3)
.
Head-2-Head:
Trump 68% (+4)
Haley 28% (-3).@Fabrizio_Lee/@MAGAIncWarRoom (Pro Trump), 600 LV, 1/17-18 https://t.co/ZhdeEVkEuL
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) January 21, 2024
Haley has 15 fundraisers scheduled over the next month.
McDaniel, “I’m looking at the map and the path going forward and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley. I think she’s run a great campaign. But I do think there is a message that’s coming out from the voters which is very clear: ‘We need to unite around our eventual nominee which is gonna be Donald Trump.’ And we need to make sure we beat Joe Biden…”
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel urges Haley to get out of the race pic.twitter.com/hrTL4FikuH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 24, 2024
Complete interview:
When asked if Trump should consider Haley for vice president, without saying yes or no McDaniel said the party needs to appeal beyond its Republican base, mentioning independents in New Hampshire, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio, but added that the veep pick should be someone who can be president and someone the president can trust.