CHARLESTON, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump predicted the end is near for rival Nikki Haley.
At a recent rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, Trump touted his commanding lead over Haley in Saturday’s Republican presidential primary in the Palmetto State, saying, “She’s getting crushed.” emphasized. “She’s done.”
“We shouldn’t lose our home state. That shouldn’t happen,” Trump added Tuesday at Fox News Town Hall in Greenville. “She has suffered a great loss.”
A projected victory in South Carolina would move Trump one step closer to winning the Republican nomination, but the campaign said in a memo earlier this week that Haley’s bid for the White House would be “unprecedented by her home state.” He insisted that it end properly.
Haley on Trump winning nomination next month: ‘Let’s see if that happens’
The Trump campaign anticipates Haley’s “difficulty in South Carolina” and says she is “nearing the end” to the presidential race as she faces “very serious mathematical problems” in the race. That’s what I expected. She won enough delegates to win the 2024 Republican nomination.
Trump campaign predicts ‘terrible things’ for Haley in her hometown, but says she ‘refuses to quit’
But Haley, the last likely challenger to President Trump’s nomination, remains defiant.
“Some of you, maybe some of you in the media, came here today to see if I was withdrawing from the race. Well, I’m not. Never. There is no,” the former two-term South Carolina governor and later U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration said in a key speech minutes after the Trump campaign memo was released.
“I refuse to resign. South Carolina votes on Saturday, but on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere,” Haley said.
He added that he was “not afraid of President Trump’s retaliation.”
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Beaufort, South Carolina, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Meg Kinard)
During the final campaign, Ms. Haley told supporters: “I’ll take care of the bruises. I’ll take care of the cuts. It’s going to be tough, and I’ll take care of the injuries. I believe that good things don’t come easy.” Because there are. Sometimes,” he said. You have to feel the pain to appreciate the blessings. ”
Haley has ramped up her verbal attacks on Trump this month, from legal entanglements to controversial comments about NATO and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to mocking her husband while traveling abroad. There is. Military travel on a mission.
Trump won a majority of votes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in January, and also won landslide victories in the Nevada and Virgin Islands caucuses earlier this month, putting him on track to clinch the nomination. It’s moving.
Haley slams Putin’s lack of criticism, accuses Trump of aligning with ‘dictators and tyrants’
Trump has campaigned relentlessly this month, making only a few stops in South Carolina. But final polls show the former president maintaining a huge double-digit lead.
In Haley’s home state of South Carolina, the former president enjoys the support of the state’s governor, nearly the entire Congressional delegation, and numerous state legislators and local officials.
Dave Wilson, a veteran Republican consultant based in South Carolina, pointed to President Trump’s “swell” in the state and emphasized the former president’s “ground troops.”
Wilson, who remains neutral in the primary, also said, “Nearly 1 million people have moved to South Carolina since Nikki Haley was governor,” and that “Nikki Haley will once again put her name in South Carolina.” “I’m trying to do that,” he said.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor and later ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at a rally in Camden, South Carolina, on Monday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
However, Wilson cited her undefeated election record and said, “Never underestimate Nikki Haley. Never count Nikki Haley out.”
South Carolina is holding an open primary, which means Republicans, independents, and even Democrats can vote for the Republican presidential nomination, as long as they did not vote in the Democratic presidential primary on February 3.
Trump’s running mate audition on the South Carolina campaign trail
Haley scored 43% in New Hampshire, where she lost to Trump by 11 points.
But while independent voters have long played an important and influential role in the nation’s first primaries, they are less of a factor in South Carolina’s more conservative districts; Evangelical voters enjoy a prominent position in Republican races.
Former United Nations Ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
Regardless of the outcome in South Carolina, Haley has repeatedly promised to remain in the race for the Republican presidential nomination until at least March 5, when Super Tuesday is held in 15 states.
“We’re focused on every state in front of us. On Saturday, it’s South Carolina right now. After that, it’s Michigan.” [which will hold its primary on Tuesday]then it’s going to be a Super Tuesday state and we’ll go from there,” Haley told FOX News Digital in an interview Wednesday in North Augusta, South Carolina.
On Friday, Haley’s campaign announced a national cable ad campaign ahead of Super Tuesday.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Nearly 800 delegates will gather on Super Tuesday, and over 150 delegates will be up for grabs over the next two weeks. Among the states that hold elections on Super Tuesday are delegate-rich California and Texas, but other large states such as Florida, Illinois, and Ohio hold winner-take-all races on March 19. The primary election will be held. Polls in many of these states show Trump holding a significant lead. Haley.
Former President Donald Trump greeted supporters Tuesday in Greenville, South Carolina, after sitting in a town hall moderated by Laura Ingraham on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.” (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
In a memo, the Trump campaign said it expected the former president to win the nomination on March 19, even under the “most generous model” for Haley.
Asked by Fox News what she would do if Trump secured the nomination next month, Haley quickly replied, “Let’s see if that happens.”
FOX News’ Cyril Clark and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
Get the latest on the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more with Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
