By Lucy Adautin
Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is suspending her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Haley is scheduled to address the press on Wednesday at her campaign headquarters on Daniel Island, located in her home state of South Carolina.
Sources with direct knowledge of Haley’s planned remarks have informed CBS News that she will not endorse former President Donald Trump during her speech. However, CBS News has confirmed that she will encourage Trump to “earn the support” of her Republican supporters and independent voters who backed her during the GOP primary.
Two sources close to Haley have indicated that she is keen on remaining involved in the GOP discourse, takes pride in being the last contender to stand against Trump, and is open to various possibilities going forward. Her key allies believe that her candidacy solidifies her position as the torchbearer for traditional Republican principles, especially with the impending departure of Senator Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down as Senate minority leader and not seeking reelection.
Haley is not planning to endorse Trump in her announcement, according to the people with knowledge of her plans. Instead, she is expected to encourage him to earn the support of the coalition of moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.
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Haley, a former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, was Trump’s first significant rival when she jumped into the race in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.
Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president is on track to reach the necessary 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.
Haley’s defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election. It’s unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party.
Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, “Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, ‘We’re united.’”
“Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubas said. “That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”
Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and Vermont on Tuesday.
She had insisted she would stay in the race through Super Tuesday and crossed the country campaigning in states holding Republican contests. Ultimately, she was unable to knock Trump off his glide path to a third straight nomination.
Haley’s allies note that she exceeded most of the political world’s expectations by making it as far as she did.
She had initially ruled out running against Trump in 2024. But she changed her mind and ended up launching her bid three months after he did, citing among other things the country’s economic troubles and the need for “generational change.” Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 — a knock on both Trump, who is 77, and President Joe Biden, who is 81.
