Nikki Haley suspends 2024 presidential campaign
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Nikki Haley suspended her 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday after a poor Super Tuesday performance – the last major rival to former President Donald Trump in the Republican contest.
Haley had been vying to become the GOP presidential nominee despite the odds against her, but on Wednesday she opted to retract her bid.
"Donald Trump is likely to be our party's nominee. I wish him well," the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador said during remarks in Charleston, South Carolina. "I wish anyone well who would be America's president. Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us."
Trump and President Joe Biden both notched victories on Super Tuesday from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, leaving little doubt about the trajectory of the race.
Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep, but Trump carried other states that might have been favorable to her, such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who had backed her in previous primaries.
"At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away," Haley added during her remarks. "And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing."
Nikki Haley announces the suspension of her presidential campaign at her campaign headquarters on March 06, 2024 in Daniel Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Celebrating his Super Tuesday wins on his social media platform, Trump invited Haley's supporters to back him and "join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation," as he put it.
President Joe Biden, meanwhile, issued a statement making his own appeal for Haley's supporters in his all-but-inevitable showdown with Trump.
"Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign," he said.
No endorsement, but no third-party run
Haley, the former envoy to the United Nations during Trump’s presidency, has faced swatting hoaxes and has been seemingly left behind by her own political party amid her campaign.
Despite winning the Republican primary in the District of Columbia, her only other victory of the 2024 campaign, fellow Republicans had been pressuring Haley to drop out of the race and set their sights on unifying around Trump.
Haley has previously made clear she has no intention of running a third-party campaign.
"I have said many, many times I would not run as an independent. I would not run as ‘no labels’ because I am a Republican and that's who I've always been," she said on Super Tuesday during an appearance on FOX News.
This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press and Kelly Hayes contributed.