Nikki Haley set to quit Republican nomination race
Former US ambassador to the UN lasted longer than any other Republican challenger, but failed to overturn Trump.
Nikki Haley is set to announce that she is suspending her campaign to win the Republican nomination for November’s United States presidential election, news agencies report, citing people familiar with her campaign.
An announcement is expected at about 15:00 GMT on Wednesday. The decision comes after the former US ambassador to the United Nations was soundly defeated in most primaries on Super Tuesday.
Her departure from the race will leave Donald Trump as the only candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination, opening the way for a deeply divisive rematch between the former president and the incumbent Democratic, Joe Biden, in November. It will be the first repeat presidential contest since 1956.
According to sources, Haley will refrain from giving an endorsement, having campaigned to attract moderate Republicans spooked by Trump’s nationalist and extreme rhetoric.
Haley lasted longer than any other Republican challenger to the frontrunner, drawing support from deep-pocketed donors. But she never posed a serious threat to Trump, whose grip on the party’s base remains firm despite his multiple criminal indictments.
Her stronger showing among moderate Republicans and independents – she won unaffiliated voters by a wide margin in New Hampshire and notched almost 40 percent of the vote in South Carolina – highlighted how Trump’s scorched-earth style of politics could make him vulnerable in an election expected to be dominated by the issues of economy and immigration.
This is a developing story. More to come …