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Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is headed to her alma mater at Clemson University this week to address the ‘State of the Race’ as she continues her now-Quixotic quest for the GOP presidential nomination against Donald Trump.
The 52-year-old politician will appear in the fifth-floor auditorium of the school’s Greenville One facility (1 N. Main Street) in downtown Greenville, S.C. at 12:00 p.m. EST.
What is the ‘State of the Race?’
In a word, “over.”
There was a brief moment last month when a potential pathway came into view for her … but it collapsed almost as quickly as it manifested. And in fairness, the manifestation may have been a “neoconservative” hallucination.
Having already lost three early states – including one in which hers was the only name on the ballot – Haley is getting absolutely crushed in her own backyard. RealClearPolling‘s survey average has Trump leading the former South Carolina governor by 25.3 percentage points, while FiveThirtyEight has the spread at 33.1 percent.
And that’s with Haley making increasingly overt appeals to Democrats to crossover into the GOP primary to support her candidacy … literally relying on non-Republican voters to try and improve her positioning in a “Republican” primary. Again, in her home state.
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“President Trump is about to crush her entire career and political future in her own home state this week,” Trump acolyte Laura Loomer wrote on X.
Trump’s campaign spokesman was slightly more diplomatic about the situation.
“Nikki Haley cannot win a single state and has no pathway to victory,” Jason Miller wrote on X. “Haley should do the right thing today and drop out and unite behind President Trump to defeat Joe Biden. This is Haley’s moment of choosing. Salvage her political career (what’s left of it) with an eye toward the future, or permanently be remembered as a Democrat Never Trumper.”
So … is Haley dropping out? Doubtful …
Is she announcing a third party bid? Hmmm …
Is she endorsing Trump (whom she previously stated she would never campaign against)? Yeah … no.
“Most reporters think she’s bluffing and will attack Trump,” one veteran GOP politico told us.
Agreed … but it’s pretty telling indicator of the “state of the race” when a candidate has to use speculation about her inevitable departure from it to attract attention.
Nikki Haley had a chance … and she let it slip away.
And while I would never write off someone who personifies ambition the way she does, it’s safe to say the Republican electorate – including the people who elected her governor twice – have seen her for exactly who and what she is.
UPDATE | Haley is staying in …
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.
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9 comments
I will NEVER forget that the coward and con man known as DONALD TRUMP CALLED OUR FALLEN SOLDIERS LOSERS AND SUCKERS, refused to visit their graves, and who disparaged Vietnam War POWs (a war he used money to get out of). Anyone who can forgive that is not an American to me. Go to hell Donald Trump and everyone who supports you. To his supporters, you are in a cult. Seek help.
Oh dear God man, that “suckers and losers” meme on Trump has been disproven so many times and on so many platforms that you must only watch the news once a month and only on CNN. Seriously, even the uber-neocon John Bolton, who REALLY hates Trump, has stated on the record that he was “in the room” and around Trump at the time in question that it was alleged that Trump supposedly said those things….AND HE SAYS IT NEVER HAPPENED. Had it really happened, nothing would have given Bolton more pleasure to twist the knife by saying that it happened, and then watched the fireworks. I’m not really crazy about the guy – certainly not in the “cult” – but you seem like you’re in the cult that resides on the opposite side of the pendulum swing. And BTW, if you’re one of these old- school Democrats who is also a veteran, you might want to pause and give some thought to the fact that there has not been a Democrat president who has even served in the armed forces since Jimmy Carter, and BOTH Trump and Biden did their level best to game the draft system and stay out of Vietnam; they both received five student deferments and then each played the malingerer with bone spurs and asthma to get medical deferments. Sadly, our nation’s former distain for draft dodgers doesn’t really exist any more -if it did then neither of them would have been elected. Nor Obama.
Hi Haley!!! How was the gang bang you were finishing up the other day?
I guess Squish didn’t learn his lesson last time.
What can she do with campaign funds if she drops out? Assuming she’s not self-funding her campaign, she’s probably having a good time, travelling around, eating well, staying in nice hotels, talking (all politicians like talking), and just enjoying the good life. Obviously, it will come to an end, but I suppose she’s going to ride that horse as far as it will take her.
On the bright side, at least she won’t be blowing it all on legal defense.
She’s holding a press conference to tell people she’s still running… how pathetic is that. Is she afraid that people have forgotten about her? Then she did a fake cry, with no tears, when she was talking about her husband. Was she crying about him when she had Will’s dick in her mouth in the back seat of her car? She’s starting to look more and more like Kamala Harris… both in her sexual activity and her primary poll numbers.
Nikki is seeing herself falling into the political future as the female version of Mark Sanford.
The difference is the GOP felt Mark actually had potential back in the day.