Nikki Haley has yet to win a primary. She hasn't even come close. With her fourth primary loss under her belt and absolutely no path to victory, it's hard to understand why she's staying in the race. She's lost significant financial backing which, of course, diminishes her ability to even campaign effectively.
Earlier this month, when he was asked why he thought Haley wasn't dropping out, Trump suggested that she doesn't know "how to get out" and suggested the only reason she's staying in is that her financial backers want to hurt him.
"Well, they're trying to hurt me because of the general election, so the Democrats are giving her money and she's playing into the game, and I think she just can't get — she just can't get herself to get out," he told Laura Ingraham of Fox News. "She's doing poorly in the polls. Look, if she was doing well, I don't understand it. But she's doing very poorly."
After Trump handily won New Hampshire, his campaign calculated that even in the best-case scenario for Nikki Haley, he'd win enough delegates to secure the Republican Party nomination by March 19. However, based on polling data, it could be a week earlier.
So why bother? Newt Gingrich has his own theory. During an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night, the former House Speaker said Haley is trying to position herself as the Trump alternative if he has to leave the race.
Host Sean Hannity suggested that maybe she was trying to force Donald Trump to spend money, but Gingrich dismissed the theory.
“Well, first of all, I don’t think she is going to force President Trump to spend anything because he’s going to beat her in every single primary in the country. That’s just going to happen," he said.
"Second, the longer she stays in, the more she will alienate Republicans," Gingrich went on. He challenged "This theory that she’s hanging around in case something happens to Trump, so she can then be the choice." Gingrich said that if that's her plan, it won't work.
"No MAGA Republican, no Trump delegate is ever going to pick Nikki Haley. They will pick any of the dozen or 50 Republicans who are acceptable, but they aren’t going to pick her,” Gingrich explained.
“And you saw that in Nevada, where she lost by 2-1 [to] 'None of these candidates'. I mean, when 'None of these candidates' beats you by 2-1, there’s a hint that maybe you’re in the wrong game this year. I hope she’ll drop out, I hope she’ll become part of the effort to beat Joe Biden."
Related: Now We Know When RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel Is Leaving
Gingrich continued, "I do not think it’s helpful to have her out there saying nasty things about the Republican nominee. And as far as I’m concerned, Donald Trump tonight is the Republican nominee. This is over. The issue is to focus on the general election and why Trump would be a dramatically better president in 2025 than Joe Biden.”
Nikki Haley knows the race is over. It was over weeks ago. She can't pretend that she doesn't know this, and even if she's not buying the Trump campaign's math, she can't argue that there's any reason to believe the trajectory of this race is about to change any time soon. She's just delaying the inevitable. At this point, any chance she may have had to be named as Trump's running mate is gone. So she's gambling on Trump being taken out of the race somehow.
And that won't win her any support.
