OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
After former President Donald Trump defeated her in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday, the news for GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley is still bad.
Haley lost key financial support from an organization funded by major GOP donors, while Trump picked up a major new endorsement.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the chamber’s No. 2 Republican and top deputy to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), came out in support of Trump in a statement to Fox News, “while a prominent Koch-backed group dropped its funding for Nikki Haley,” Just the News reported.
”The primary results in South Carolina make clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in this year’s pivotal presidential election,” Thune said. “The choice before the American people is crystal clear: It’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden.”
The former president also praised the fact that Charles and David Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity Action, a group that supports free markets, stopped funding Haley’s campaign.
He wrote on his Truth Social platform:
“AMERICAN’S FOR NO PROSPERITY JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTING NIKKI “BRAINDEAD” (BIRDBRAIN?) HALEY. CHARLES KOCH AND HIS GROUP GOT PLAYED FOR SUCKERS RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING!”
In an email that was first reported by Politico, AFP Action’s Emily Seidel explained to the organization’s staff why it was ending financial support for former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor, saying that the group didn’t believe that “any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory.”
But despite the trouncing — Trump beat her with roughly 60 percent of the vote to her 40 percent — Haley vowed Saturday evening that she would remain in the race nonetheless.
“I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run… I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she said.
“40% is not some tiny group,” Haley continued. “There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primary [who said] they want an alternative…I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I will continue to run for president. I’m a woman of my word.”
She also addressed both Trump and President Joe Biden.
“One of them calls his fellow Americans fascists. The other calls his fellow Americans vermin,” she said. “They aren’t fighting for our country’s future. They’re demanding we fight each other.”
For his part, after his big victory, Trump said he wasn’t focused on Haley anymore.
Trump told Fox News that he’s not sure Haley is “even really in the race” at this point, adding that he is now hyper-focused on beating President Joe Biden in the fall.
“I was honored that I received the largest vote in the history of the state — I’m with Senator Lindsey Graham right now, and he just told me we received the largest vote by double — we beat the last record,” Trump told the network. “So that’s a great compliment to all of the people and to making America great again.”
Asked if he thought Haley should now drop out of the race, Trump said he’s “really not thinking about that… I’m not thinking about it.”
“I’m thinking about we have to beat Joe Biden,” told the outlet. “I don’t know if she’s in the race at all because, you know, I have set records in every single state. I’m not sure that she’s really in the race.”
Trump secured another 44 delegates ahead of the RNC’s nominating convention this summer, CNN reported.
Before Saturday’s primary, Trump dominated other primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“I’m very honored by the elections,” he said after his South Carolina victory. “We’re setting records in every single state.”
