Nikki Haley suspends White House campaign

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday said she was suspending her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Haley expressed her gratitude for her supporters, “but the time has now come to suspend my campaign.” She acknowledged that former President Donald Trump would likely be the nominee for the Republican Party but did not say she was endorsing him.

Hadn’t she said she would stay in the race? She had said last month in Greenville, S.C., “I’m not going anywhere,” in response to speculation that she would suspend her campaign. Earlier this week, Haley told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she would stay in as long as she remained “competitive.”

Why is she dropping out now? Haley claimed victory in only one state, Vermont, in Tuesday night’s 15-state primary election blitz. Trump has either claimed official victory in the other states, or media outlets have preemptively called them in his favor before official results, according to WORLD’s 2024 Election Center. Haley’s only other primary victory in this election has been in Washington, D.C. Trump’s campaign said that, in that instance, D.C. “insiders” and “lobbyists” were crowning her “Queen of the Swamp,” in reference to the longstanding political slogan, “drain the swamp.”

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about Haley’s presidential primary victory in Washington, D.C.