E-Paper
South Carolina Primary: Can Nikki Haley pull off a surprise win in her home state?
Nikki Haley faces an uphill battle in South Carolina, trailing 30 points behind Donald Trump.
Nikki Haley came back to South Carolina on Wednesday as a political outsider in her own state.
After losing the New Hampshire primary, the former governor asked her supporters at a rally to stand by her as they did when they elected her governor.
But Haley faces a tough challenge in her home state. She is 30 points behind Donald Trump in the polls. Most of the state’s Republican leaders have endorsed Trump, including her former ally Sen. Tim Scott.
Her supporters felt betrayed by them.
“It bothers me that she did a lot of things for people, and they’ve all turned their backs on her,” Pat Pope, 67, said at the rally.
The Indian-American presidential hopeful is under pressure to quit the race after finishing third in Iowa and second in New Hampshire, both won by Trump.
But Rep. Ralph Norman, her only congressional backer, told POLITICO she has the courage to continue.
ALSO READ| South Carolina Primary: Does Nikki Haley have a chance in the coming GOP Primary?
“Nikki’s got the courage to continue on. She would have liked to have done better in both New Hampshire and Iowa. But it is what it is, and she’s willing to put the work in. And I’m with her,” he said.
Haley’s homecoming
Haley hopes to repeat her past victories in South Carolina primaries, where she beat the odds as a Tea Party candidate and became governor.
But this time, she faces strong opposition from the GOP establishment, which wants to end the primary and rally behind Trump.
The Republican National Committee’s chair, Ronna McDaniel, said Haley has no path forward. The Trump campaign said it got 50 new endorsements from South Carolina Republicans.
In a 40-minute speech, Haley appealed to her history with the voters, saying “you have been with me before.”
“Join with me again,” she said. “One last time.”
She urged her supporters to take yard signs and tell 10 people to vote for her on Feb. 24.
The former governor also criticized Trump’s age, mental acuity and electability, and expressed discontent with a Trump-Biden rematch.
Haley refused to bow out of the race, pointing out that the contest was far from over. She reminded the crowd that only two states had cast their votes, and there were still 48 more to go.
“There are delegates in every one of those states,” Haley said, as the crowd cheered. “Donald Trump has 32, and I have 17,” she added.
“We are not giving up just like that.”
She also revealed that she had raised $1 million in the last 24 hours, since her speech in New Hampshire where she came second to Trump by 11 points.
