“It’s a flesh wound!”
This was the line spoken by the black knight in the 1975 Monty Python comedy film The Holy Grail. The knight had all of his limbs chopped off in combat but stubbornly refused to concede defeat.
Nikki Haley similarly resists ending her campaign for the 2024 GOP Presidential nomination despite a weak showing in the New Hampshire primary following a distant third in the Iowa caucuses.
“New Hampshire is first in the nation,” she said in a speech conceding the Granite State primary. “It is not the last in the nation. This race is far from over.“
Nikki Haley: “This race is far from over!” @NikkiHaley is delusional. She knows she can’t beat Trump. She’s going to drag it out though and spend millions more in donor dollars. pic.twitter.com/t7QmEvhn2L
— Rob (@_ROB_29) January 24, 2024
Former president Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses by such a large margin that every opponent except Haley has dropped out and pledged their support for Trump. That includes the two other serious candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. If it matters to anyone but his 35 Iowa supporters, former New Jersey Gov. and anti-Trump crusader Chris Christie dropped out after New Hampshire as well.
Trump has won New Hampshire by double digits over Haley and set a record for most votes ever received by a candidate in the New Hampshire primary. The Associated Press called the race for Trump minutes after polls closed.
Following the New Hampshire victory, Trump has also picked up two more key supporters in Congress: Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Debbie Fischer (R-NE). He already has the formal endorsement of all the GOP leadership in the House of Representatives as well as that of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC).
Additionally, New Hampshire’s lax requirements to vote in the GOP primary resulted in 70% of Haley’s support being cast by unaffiliated voters. Speculation is that this is the result of an organized effort by Democrats to sabotage Trump. Most remaining states require GOP registration to cast a vote in their primaries.
Finally, Donald Trump is polling significantly ahead of his only remaining adversary in her own state of South Carolina, where Haley was once Governor.
In light of all this, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel is suggesting that Nikki Haley should end her campaign and put her support behind Trump.
If this were a football game, Trump’s campaign would have reached the point of running the ball and killing the clock. His nomination is viewed as inevitable by virtually all pundits at this point.
Former Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has been criticized as being a weak conservative and being an “establishment” candidate, serving on Boeing’s board of directors.
