Nikki Haley Ends White House Bid, Clearing Path For Trump

Nikki Haley ended her long-shot challenge to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Wednesday, ensuring the former president will be the party's candidate in a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November's election.

Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, bowed out a day after Super Tuesday, opens new tab, when Trump beat her soundly in 14 of 15 Republican nominating contests.

"The time has now come to suspend my campaign," Haley told supporters during a speech in Charleston. "I have no regrets."

She said it was likely Trump - who repeatedly belittled her candidacy - would be the Republican nominee but did not endorse him.

"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him," she said. "And I hope he does that."

Drawing on her foreign policy experience at the U.N., Haley said it was important to continue U.S. global leadership. Throughout her campaign, Haley said the United States must help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression, a position at odds with Trump.

"If we retreat further, there will be more war, not less," she said.

Trump did capture the endorsement on Wednesday of Mitch McConnell, the longtime Senate Republican leader who some party hardliners considered insufficiently allied with the former president.

"It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support," said McConnell, who is stepping down as leader.

There was no indication Trump would moderate his message.

Just as Haley was conceding the race, he criticized her before inviting her supporters to join him. "Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion," Trump wrote on the Truth Social media platform.

In contrast, Biden praised Haley for daring to "speak the truth" about Trump and extended his own invitation to her supporters.

"Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign," Biden said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Trump reiterated his willingness to debate Biden in a post on Truth Social. Debates are typically held after the parties' nominating conventions in July and August.

In response, Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said, "That's a conversation we'll have at the appropriate time in this cycle."

Trump refused to participate in any of the debates held during the Republican nomination fight.

Haley lasted longer than any other Republican challenger to Trump but never posed a serious threat to the former president, whose iron grip on the party's base remains firm despite multiple criminal indictments.

The rematch between Trump, 77, and Biden, 81 - the first repeat U.S. presidential contest since 1956 - is one that few Americans want. Opinion polls show both Biden and Trump have low approval ratings among voters.

The election promises to be deeply divisive in a country already riven by political polarization. Biden has cast Trump as an existential danger to democratic principles, while Trump has sought to re-litigate his false claims that he won in 2020.

Haley, 52, drew support from deep-pocketed donors intent on stopping Trump from winning a third consecutive Republican presidential nomination, particularly after she notched a series of strong performances at Republican debates that Trump skipped.

She ultimately failed to pry loose enough conservative voters.

But her stronger showing among moderate Republicans and independents highlighted how Trump's scorched-earth style of politics could make him vulnerable in the Nov. 5 election against Biden._Reuters