Nikki Haley is soldiering on toward what is likely to be a lopsided defeat in her home state’s February 24 Republican primary, with no prospect of finding states she can win.
She gave a defiant speech on February 20, vowing that even if she lost South Carolina she was “not going anywhere,” would campaign “until the last person votes,” and will resist “the herd mentality” according to which she should exit the presidential race and get behind Donald Trump.
We’ve heard that before from candidates just before they dropped out. Haley, who praised Trump while working for him and even said she would not run in 2024 if he ran, is undoubtedly right to say today that “many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace Trump privately dread him.”
If she follows through by staying in the race for the long haul, it will be solely as a protest, albeit a defensible protest. If Trump wants the votes of her supporters in the fall, it will, as always, be the candidate’s job to earn them.
