The Republican said President Trump must now earn the votes of those who did not support him.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley ended her 2024 bid on March 6—without backing the party’s presumptive nominee, former President Donald Trump.
Ms. Haley delivered the news in a brief speech before supporters in Charleston, South Carolina.
“I am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received from all across our great country. But the time has now come to suspend my campaign,” she said. “I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets. And although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
Ms. Haley’s announcement comes a day after Super Tuesday—the day consisting of the most primaries in the presidential election cycle—in which President Trump swept all but one of the races.
Acknowledging that the former president would likely become the Republican nominee, Ms. Haley congratulated him on the achievement and wished him well, but stopped short of an endorsement.
“I have always been a conservative Republican and supported the Republican nominee,” she said. “But on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, ‘Never just follow the crowd. Always make up your own mind.’
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does.”
President Trump responded to the news of Ms. Haley’s departure from the race with a statement on his Truth Social platform.
Noting that he had “trounced” Ms. Haley the night before, the former president said, “At this point, I hope she stays in the ‘race’ and fights it out until end!”
Still, he invited Ms. Haley’s supporters to join him in his efforts to defeat President Joe Biden in November, whom he called “the enemy.”
“HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY,” he wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
By Jackson Richman and Samantha Flom
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