Nikki Haley withdraws from presidential race, paves the way for a potential rematch between Trump and Biden

According to a source familiar with her plans, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will suspend her presidential campaign on Wednesday. This will ensure that Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination and once again face Democratic President Joe Biden in November's election.

 

The source said Haley would give a speech at 10 a.m. local time (1500 GMT) to address her future in the race, but she would not endorse it at that time. She will urge Trump to try to win the backing of her supporters, which include a significant chunk of moderate Republicans and independent voters, the source added.

Haley's decision to suspend her campaign comes a day after Super Tuesday, and it opens a new tab when Trump beat her soundly in 14 of the 15 Republican nominating contests.

Haley lasted longer than any other Republican challenger to Trump. Still, she never seriously threatened the former president, whose iron grip on the party's base remains firm despite his multiple criminal indictments.

Few Americans want the rematch between Trump, 77, and Biden, 81—the first repeat US presidential contest since 1956—and opinion polls show both Biden and Trump have low approval ratings among voters.

The election promises to be deeply divisive in a country already riven by political polarization. Biden has cast Trump as an existential danger to democratic principles, while Trump has sought to re-litigate his false claims that he won in 2020.

Haley, 52, had drawn support from deep-pocketed donors intent on stopping Trump from winning a third consecutive Republican presidential nomination, particularly after she notched a series of solid performances at debates that Trump opted to skip.

She failed to pry loose enough conservative voters in the face of Trump's dominance.

But her stronger showing among moderate Republicans and independents - she won unaffiliated voters by a wide margin in New Hampshire and notched almost 40% of the vote in South Carolina - highlighted how Trump's scorched-earth style of politics could make him vulnerable in the November 5 election.

On March 3, she won the Washington, DC, Republican primary with 62.9% of the vote, versus 33.2% for Trump. On Tuesday, her only win came in Vermont, a small, profoundly Democratic state.

Biden has his baggage, including widespread concern about his age. 

Three-quarters of respondents in a February Reuters/Ipsos poll said he was too old to work in government after already serving as the oldest US president.

About half of respondents said the same about Trump.

Reuters