Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ended her presidential run Wednesday morning.
After a lackluster primary performance on Super Tuesday, Haley addressed supporters in Charleston, South Carolina.
“The time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets,” Haley said.
Haley, who served as United Nations ambassador under former President Donald Trump, was Trump’s only remaining challenger in the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
Haley had earlier said she would stay in the race at least through Super Tuesday, but in remarks to the Deseret News last week, she left her plans ambiguous following those contests.
“Although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in,” Haley said on Wednesday.
In her speech, Haley highlighted the “conservative Republican” values she stood for, including reducing the national debt, maintaining the principle of limited government, encouraging bipartisan problem solving in Congress and backing America’s allies like Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
“While we stand strong for the cause of freedom,” Haley said, “we must bind together as Americans. We must turn away from the darkness of hate and division. I will continue to promote all those values as is the right of every American.”
Tuesday’s GOP elections, taking place in 15 states across the country, including Utah, saw Trump win with large margins in nearly every contest except for Vermont, where Haley landed a four-point victory.
Trump ended the night with 995 of the 1,215 delegates needed to win the party’s nomination during the GOP convention in July. After winning only two primaries, in Vermont and Washington, D.C., Haley suspended her campaign with just 89 delegates.
Besides Vermont, the state where Haley came the closest to beating Trump was Utah, where the GOP’s party-run preference poll was riddled by long lines and technical difficulties in some larger precincts. Haley received 41% of the vote in Utah, while Trump ended up with 58% and all 40 of the state’s delegates. This 17-point margin is small in comparison to the 50 to 70-point margin Trump won with in other red states on Tuesday.
Haley’s exit leaves Trump to focus his campaign on the general election against President Joe Biden. In her speech, Haley said she wished her party’s presumptive nominee well, saying “Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us.”
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party, and beyond it, who did not support him,” Haley concluded. “And I hope he does that. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.”
After racking up wins across the country Tuesday — all but ensuring a rematch with Biden — Trump called for unity.
“We have a great Republican Party with tremendous talent. And we want to have unity and we’re going to have unity, and it’s going to happen very quickly,” the former president said.