As the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Trump has massive influence. He’s using it to call out what the GOP is up against.
And Trump sounded the alarm on the biggest threat to Republicans in 2024.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump said challenger Nikki Haley’s decision to continue her 2024 campaign despite multiple losses “hurts the party” and “hurts the country.”
“I think she hurts herself, but I think she hurts the party — and in a way, hurts the country,” the former president told reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago residence moments after the U.S. Supreme Court finished hearing oral arguments about his Colorado ballot case.
“I don’t know why she continues,” he added. “I don’t really care if she continues.”
Trump, 77, then noted Haley’s losses in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, where his fans decisively voted for “none of these candidates.”
“I don’t know why she continues, but let her continue. We have a big win coming up, as you know, in South Carolina, and the polls are indicating that we’re through the roof on that one,” Trump said.
The former commander-in-chief was also optimistic he would perform “very well” in the Nevada caucus that took place last Thursday night, where 26 delegates were up for grabs.
Haley, 55, filed for the February 6 primary because her team did not want to pay $55,000 for a caucus that it claims is “rigged” in favor for Trump.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands caucus, which was also planned for last Thursday night, Trump appeared to be less confident of winning, saying Haley is “playing it very hard.”
Trump’s remarks regarding Haley’s campaign harming “the party” contradict his previous assertion that the contest should continue until she withdraws “for the sake of party unity.”
The former president urged the Republican National Committee to drop a resolution that would have proclaimed him the “presumptive nominee.”
“While I greatly appreciate the Republican National Committee (RNC) wanting to make me their PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE, and while they have far more votes than necessary to do it, I feel, for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last month.
“I should do it the ‘Old Fashioned’ way, and finish the process off AT THE BALLOT BOX. Thank you to the RNC for the Respect and Devotion you have shown me!”
Despite her setbacks, Haley has continued to campaign for president, stating that Trump does not deserve a “coronation.”
She has stated that she intends to run through South Carolina and Super Tuesday, and that the first few states in the electoral cycle should not choose the nominee.
To continue her campaign, the former South Carolina governor has stated that she must fare better in her own state than in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“As long as I keep growing per state, I am in this race,” Haley told NBC’s Meet the Press in January.
“I have every intention of going to Super Tuesday, through Super Tuesday. We’re going to keep on going and see where this gets us. That’s what we know we’re going to do right now. I take it one state at a time. I don’t think too far ahead.”
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
