Haley faces growing pressure from Republicans to drop out of presidential race

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News on Tuesday that she couldn’t see “the math and the path ahead” for Haley to win the party’s nomination, but stopped short of explicitly calling for Haley to withdraw.

“I think she ran a great campaign. But I do think voters sent a very clear message: We need to rally around our eventual nominee, which is Donald Trump, and we need to make sure we defeat Joe Biden,” McDaniel said.

She noted that Haley has poured resources into New Hampshire and gained support from Gov. Chris Sununu (R) as well as the state’s independent and unaffiliated voters, but still finished in second place.

“I just thought, if she was second here, I couldn’t see the path,” McDaniel said. “…This is not the Republican National Committee speaking. This is not the establishment speaking. This is the voters speaking.”

Haley vowed to stay in the race for the long haul and strongly rejected the idea that she would drop out or settle for being named the vice presidential nominee. At a watch party in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, Haley was upbeat, congratulating Trump on his projected win, saying “he’s got it,” but declaring the race is “far from over.”

“There are dozens more states to go to. Next is my sweet state of South Carolina,” she told cheering supporters. “…I’m a fighter, and I’m scrappy. Now we’re the last ones standing with Donald Trump.”

Still, the pressure campaign from Trump supporters began when Haley addressed supporters. Within 30 minutes, three Republican senators publicly wanted Haley to resign.

“I’ve seen enough,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote X, ex-Twitter, 8:05 PM “To defeat Biden, Republicans need to unite around a candidate, and it’s clear that President Trump is the choice of Republican voters.”

A few minutes later, Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance continued speaking. “At this point Haley can either quit or help the Democrats,” he wrote on the platform.

Another 10 minutes later, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), who had never endorsed a candidate in a primary before, declare On

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), a long-time supporter of Trump from Haley’s home state, joined calls from fellow Republicans on Tuesday night to write on X: “The sooner we unite, the better.”

Republicans are increasingly vocal in their public calls for the party to unite behind Trump. senator.Eric Schmidt (Monday), Rep. Dan Bishop (North Carolina) and Rep. Harriet Hagman (Wyoming) Everyone announced the end of the primary in social media posts.

Haley, her campaign officials and top surrogates all continued to express optimism about the future nominating contest, saying they did not want to see Trump “coronated.” Haley spoke with Republicans Wednesday morning in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which will hold a caucus on Feb. 8 to determine how to certify its delegates.

Haley’s allies also pointed to her stronger-than-expected performance in Iowa, where she won eight delegates, and in New Hampshire, where she was expected to trail Trump by 11 percentage points, even though pre-primary polls showed Trump with a 28-point approval rating. Point lead. (This poll was conducted before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced over the weekend that he was suspending his campaign.)

In a memo outlining the state of the race on Tuesday, Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankeny noted that South Carolina and Michigan have open primaries, meaning anyone can vote in the Republican primary, As long as they haven’t voted in the Democratic primary — a welcome sight for Haley, who has done better than Trump among independent and unaffiliated voters.

Ankeny wrote that on March 5, Super Tuesday, 11 of 16 states and territories will hold open or semi-open primaries, providing “significant fertile ground” for Haley.

“After Super Tuesday, we’ll have a good idea of ​​what this game looks like,” Ankeny added. “By then, millions of Americans in 26 states and territories will have voted. Until then, everyone should take a deep breath.”

On Wednesday morning, Gov. Sununu, who supports and campaigned with Haley in her home state, said the idea that Haley was quitting now was “nonsense.”

“With all due respect, Ronna McDaniel, we’re going to call it two states later, [with] That leaves 40 states…because they’re too close? This is nonsense,” Sununu said on Fox News. “You have to let the voters decide, not a bunch of political elites in Washington, D.C.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters on Wednesday that she was pleased to hear Haley was determined to continue running, but acknowledged that she had not formally endorsed her.

“I think the more people see her, especially since she seems to be the only alternative to Donald Trump right now, the more impressed they’re going to be,” Collins said.

But even if Haley doesn’t want to drop out of the race, she’s growing increasingly concerned about retaining donors who said Wednesday they were worried about her chances in her home state of South Carolina.

Metals magnate Andy Sabin, who previously contributed the most to Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign before he dropped out, has also donated a small amount to Haley. But Sabin, who previously said Haley needed to win New Hampshire to pose a real challenge to Trump, said he would no longer contribute to her campaign.

Sabin, who has been a vocal critic of Trump in the past, said he has supported Trump by encouraging people to vote for the former president, but that the Republican donor drew a line at financial support.

“I’m not going to give him a penny, I’ve said that,” Sabin told the Washington Post. “But I will do whatever it takes to get him elected.”

Several advisers to political mega-donors, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said they believed it was unlikely to provide Haley with significant funding in the future after her performance in New Hampshire.

“Without a victory in New Hampshire, she doesn’t have the momentum she needs to win South Carolina,” one adviser said. “Without the route to South Carolina, she has no chance of playing on Super Tuesday.”

But not everyone has given up on Hailey. Prominent Republican fundraiser Eric Levine said that while he was disappointed that Haley lost New Hampshire, he would continue to raise money for her.

“As long as she competes, I’m with her,” he said.

The super PAC of Americans for Prosperity, the flagship organization of the political network led by conservative billionaire Charles Koch, contributed its sophisticated ground operations and political network muscle to Haley’s operations in Iowa and New Hampshire. , the organization said it plans to continue Haley’s work in South Carolina. “The road ahead is even bumpier,” the group said in a statement after the New Hampshire results were announced. But spokesman Bill Riggs said the group had contacted about 300,000 South Carolinians as of Wednesday.

Mark Harris, chief strategist of the SFA Fund, a super PAC that backs Haley, said he expected continued support — “People are excited,” he said — but added that he knew Haley’s spending as an “insurgent candidate” will exceed.

“Our donors have been involved for a long time,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “They believe in Nikki Haley. They believe in the new direction of the country.”

Michael Scherer contributed to this report.