Nikki Haley drops out of Republican presidential race

WASHINGTON -- Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican race in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Wednesday after failing to slow down former President Donald Trump's march toward the party's nomination.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a speech that the time has come to suspend her campaign, after suffering a sweeping loss to Trump on Super Tuesday, when approximately one-third of all delegates to the Republican or Democratic conventions are distributed.

Trump won the Republican presidential primaries in 14 states on "Super Tuesday," including Texas, California, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, while Haley only claimed victory in Vermont.

Previously, Trump decisively defeated Haley in eight states, including Iowa, New Hampshire, Haley's home state South Carolina, and Michigan, while Haley carried only Washington, D.C.

"I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets," Haley said in Charleston, South Carolina. "Although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in," she added.

Haley refrained from endorsing Trump, indicating instead that the responsibility now lies with him to demonstrate his ability to reconcile divisions within their party.

"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that," Haley said, noting that the conservative cause "badly needs more people."

In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said that "Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion," adding that he would like to "invite all of the Haley supporters to join" his campaign.

Biden, meanwhile, addressed Haley's supporters in a statement, expressing his belief that they held similar perspectives regarding the threats to democracy and American foreign policy posed by the presumptive Republican nominee.

"There is a place for them in my campaign," Biden said in his statement.

With Haley's exit, it's now almost certain that there will be a rematch between Trump and Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden.

A recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, however, found that a significant share of U.S. adults doubt the mental capabilities of Biden, 81, and Trump, 77.

Many Americans also disapprove of Trump's brazen, in-your-face manner of speaking, considering him rude and brash, which does not sit well with independent voters.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll in late January, 67 percent said that they are tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents share that sentiment.