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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 14:23:04 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Haley to address presidential race ahead of crucial South Carolina primaryToday at noon eastern time, we’re going to hear from Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who is the last major challenger remaining to Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. Her speech in Greenville, South Carolina, comes before the state’s Republican primary on Saturday, which is viewed as crucial for Haley to win, or at least come close to winning, in order to continue her campaign. Yet polls generally show Trump with an overwhelming advantage in the Palmetto state, meaning Haley supporters may be in for more disappointment. Trump is meanwhile busy convincing people that his nomination is inevitable. Politico reports that today his campaign will release a memo arguing that the former president will have an insurmountable lead in Republican delegates by the middle of March. We’ll let you know what Haley has to say about all that when she speaks at 12pm. Haley does not plan to drop out – reportWhen she speaks at 12pm today, Nikki Haley will “address the state of the presidential race”, according to her campaign. Such language is often used before a candidate pulls the plug on their run for office, but NBC News reports that the former South Carolina governor is not doing that today: It’s unclear where Haley is hoping to catch up to Donald Trump’s lead in delegates. She’s trailing the former president in most state-level polls, including of the 15 states voting in the 5 March Super Tuesday primary, which could decide the Republican nominee.
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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 14:29:30 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 14:42:54 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump campaign says 'the end is near' for HaleyIn a newly released memo, top Donald Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles argue Nikki Haley has no path to winning the Republican presidential nomination. “We won’t bore you with the reams of data that show an ass-kicking in the making in South Carolina, but we will show you the very serious math problem Nikki Haley has. This is the diagnosis she refuses to accept: The end is near,” they write in a memo that predicts her campaign will “end” after South Carolina’s primary on Saturday. Here’s more: Currently, President Trump has 63 delegates. If we were overly generous and applied a ‘worst case’ model reflecting Nikki Haley’s loss in New Hampshire across the remaining states and Congressional Districts, President Trump would earn 114 Delegates the week following the South Carolina Primary. On Super Tuesday, under this very favorable model for Nikki, President Trump would win 773 Delegates. President Trump would win an additional 162 Delegates the following two weeks, after Super Tuesday. And, on March 19, under this most-generous model for Nikki, President Trump would win the Republican nomination for President.
Now, if we ignore this model and follow what the current data — both public and private — suggests, President Trump will win the Republican nomination one week earlier, on March 12, with 1,223 Delegates. Which is all to say, before March Madness tips off next month, President Trump will be the Republican nominee for President.
After explaining the reasons why they believe Nikki Haley is doomed, Donald Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles outline their plans. It’s a revealing look into the strategy they’ll execute as they shift into taking on Joe Biden in the general election: Acknowledge that Nikki Haley is irrelevant and not newsworthy — and unworthy of said attention.
The Republican National Committee becomes one with the Donald J. Trump for President campaign. Convention planning, fundraising, strategy, and state party tactics — including full coordination with the NRCC and the NRSC — begin in earnest.
The General election (even though we have always known it started months ago) begins, and the case to Fire Joe Biden is prosecuted.
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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 14:43:48 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Haley vows to stay in race ahead of South Carolina speechNikki Haley has told the Associated Press she has no plans to exit the presidential race, and cast doubt on Donald Trump’s ability to win the general election. “What is the rush? Why is everybody so panicked about me having to get out of this race?” the former South Carolina governor told the AP in an interview ahead of her 12pm speech. “That’s about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. If I get out of the race today, it will be the longest general election in history.” The AP reports that he campaign won’t say if there is a state where they think Haley can beat Trump. In her interview, Haley cited Trump’s legal troubles to warn he may not be able to beat Joe Biden. “Instead of asking me what states I’m gonna win, why don’t we ask how he’s gonna win a general election after spending a full year in a courtroom?” she said. “Ten days after South Carolina, another 20 states vote. I mean, this isn’t Russia. We don’t want someone to go in and just get 99% of the vote.”
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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 14:56:10 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Haley to deliver remarks on 'state of the presidential race'In a few minutes, Nikki Haley will take the stage in Greenville, South Carolina to deliver remarks on “the state of the presidential race”, according to her campaign. Polls show the former South Carolina governor is trailing Donald Trump ahead of her home state’s Republican primary on Saturday. 'I'm not' dropping out of race, 'we have a country to save', Haley saysNikki Haley got right to the point in her speech in Greenville, South Carolina ahead of the state’s Republican presidential primary on Saturday, saying she had no plans to abandon her campaign. “Some of you, perhaps a few of you in the media, came here today to see if I’m dropping out of the race. Well, I’m not. Far from it, and I’m here to tell you why,” she said. She continued: I’m running for president because we have a country to save.
Since the start of my campaign I’ve been focused on the real issues our country faces, the ones that determine whether America will thrive or spiral out. I’m talking about the millions of students who don’t know how to read or do basic math. The families who can’t afford groceries, much less a first home, the total lawlessness on our southern border.
I’m talking about the murders in our cities, the fentanyl on our streets, the children who’ve been killed in their mom’s car by stray bullets. And I’m talking about the American weakness that led to wars in Europe, and the Middle East, and the urgent need to restore strength before war spreads and draws America further in. These are the challenges I’m here to tackle.
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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 14:57:25 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 'I have no fear of Trump's retribution,' Haley saysNikki Haley, who once served as Donald Trump’s United Nations ambassador but is now his sole remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination, said she is not afraid to continue her campaign: We’ve all heard the calls for me to drop out. We all know where they’re coming from: the political elite, the party bosses, the cheerleaders in the commentator world. The argument is familiar. They say I haven’t won a state, that my path to victory is slim. They point to the primary polls and say I’m only delaying the inevitable. Why keep fighting when the battle was apparently over after Iowa?
Look, I get it. In politics, the herd mentality is enormously strong. A lot of Republican politicians have surrendered to it. The pressure on them was way too much. They didn’t want to be left out of the club.
Of course, many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace Trump, privately dread him.
They know what a disaster he’s been and will continue to be for our party. They’re just too afraid to say it out loud. Well, I’m not afraid to say the hard truth out loud.
I feel no need to kiss the ring. I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him.
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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 14:58:18 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Nikki Haley denied that she was looking to be Donald Trump’s running mate, or staying in the race to boost her chances in a future presidential year. “South Carolina will vote on Saturday, but on Sunday, I’ll still be running for President. I’m not going anywhere. I’m campaigning every day until the last person votes because I believe in a better America and a brighter future for our kids. Nothing good in life comes easy. I’m willing to take the cuts, the bruises and the name calling because the only way you get to the blessing is by going through the pain,” Haley said. And then: Dropping out would be the easy route. I’ve never taken the easy route. I’ve been the underdog in every race I’ve ever run. I’ve always been David taking on Goliath. And, like David, I’m not just fighting someone bigger than me. I’m fighting for something bigger than myself. I’m used to people questioning my intentions.
So, I’ll make a few things clear. Some people used to say I was running because I really wanted to be vice-president. I think I’ve pretty well settled that question. Other people say I’m trying to set up a future presidential run. How does that even work?
If I was running for a bogus reason, I would have dropped out a long time ago. The rest of the fellas already did that. They have their own plans. I don’t judge them. But I’m still here, fighting for what I know is right. And I don’t care what the party leaders and political leaders want. I’ll keep fighting until the American people close the door. That day is not today. And it won’t be on Saturday. Not by a longshot.
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Post by Webster on Feb 20, 2024 15:19:37 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Nikki Haley made a point to ding Donald Trump for his promotion of unfounded conspiracy theories about his 2020 election defeat. She said people who wanted her to quit were advocating for “a Soviet style election where there’s only one candidate and he gets 99% of the vote”, and then said: We don’t anoint kings in this country. We have elections and Donald Trump of all people should know, we don’t rig elections.[
She also argued that quitting the race would be a boon to Joe Biden’s chances of re-election. Polls show that voters are dissatisfied with both Biden and Donald Trump, and some surveys have found Haley would be a stronger candidate to beat the Democrat. “Republicans will get stronger through a vigorous competition. We have plenty of time to hash this out. If the race ended today, we would have the longest general election in history. There are still eight and a half months before election day,” Haley said. “Do we really want to spend every day from now until November, watching America’s most two most disliked politicians duking it out? No sane person wants that. But there’s another reason Trump is wrong. At the end of the day, the only candidate who’s helping Joe Biden is Donald Trump. Because Trump is the only Republican Biden can beat. The Democrats know it – they don’t even try and conceal it.”
As Haley wrapped up her speech, she addressed Donald Trump’s attacks on her husband Michael. At a recent campaign event, the former president had claimed Michael was “gone”, when he is in fact deployed with the South Carolina army national guard in Djibouti. “Let’s finally leave the past behind and let’s forge a new American future. This vision has guided every generation. It summoned me to serve as governor of this great state and as ambassador for the greatest country in the world. And that same vision called my husband to serve in the uniform of the United States,” Haley said.
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Post by Webster on Feb 23, 2024 22:29:11 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Polls indicate Trump maintains about 30-point polling average over Haley in South CarolinaBy all indications, Donald Trump is set to, once again, clobber Nikki Haley in South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary on Saturday. A Suffolk University/USA Today poll conducted in recent days found Trump leading the state’s likely Republican primary voters with 63% support compared to Haley’s 35%. Poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight finds Trump with a more than 30-point lead over his last remaining major Republican challenger. Trump has been on a roll ever since Iowa’s caucuses in January, where he knocked one of his biggest rivals, Florida governor Ron DeSantis out of the race. Haley, the former South Carolina governor, failed to best him or even come close in New Hampshire. In Nevada, Haley suffered the embarrassment of losing to “none of the candidates” in the state’s primaries, while Trump won its caucuses, which the GOP will use to allocate the state’s delegates.
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Post by Webster on Feb 23, 2024 22:30:19 GMT -5
(The Guardian) South Carolina is her home state, but on the campaign trail, the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino and Joan E Greve report that skepticism about her continued presence in the race is common: Standing before a large crowd outside a waterfront hotel in Georgetown, Nikki Haley confronted the question that many Republicans in her “sweet” home state of South Carolina – and across the country – have asked: why is she still running for president?
“I don’t care about a political future. If I did, I would have been out by now,” she said. “I’m doing this for my kids. I’m doing this for your kids and your grandkids.”
Haley is the last candidate standing between Donald Trump and the Republican nomination he expects to wrap up within weeks.
But her path forward is vanishingly thin, after successive losses to Trump in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, followed by a stinging defeat in Nevada’s non-binding Republican primary in which, despite being the only major candidate on the ballot, Haley finished a distant second to the option labeled “none of these”.
On Saturday, she is bracing for another rebuke, this time at the hands of the very Republican voters who once elevated her to the governor’s mansion. A Suffolk University/USA Today poll released this week of likely South Carolina Republican primary voters showed Trump trouncing Haley by a margin of nearly 2 to 1, 63% to 35%. But Haley has made clear that she has no intention of conceding the nomination – not yet anyway.
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Post by Webster on Feb 23, 2024 22:31:04 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Donald Trump stepped up his attempts to appeal to rightwing Christians ahead of South Carolina’s primary, the Guardian’s Alice Herman reports: Donald Trump told a warmly receptive gathering of religious broadcasters on Thursday that “it’s the people from within our country that are more dangerous than the people outside”, in his latest effort to mobilize Christian fundamentalists who have swung dramatically behind him in recent years.
Trump’s speech in Nashville, Tennessee, to the National Religious Broadcasters presidential forum gala offered him a chance to pitch himself to hundreds of Christian media figures whose approval – and willingness to carry his message on air – could drive huge turnout in November. “The greatest threat is not from the outside of our country – I really believe it is from within,” said Trump, whose fire-and-brimstone speech focused largely on his political enemies. “It’s the people from within our country that are more dangerous than the people outside.”
The former president’s relationship with the religious right has shifted since his unlikely bid for the presidency in 2016, when his campaign was met with deep skepticism from conservative Christian leaders who had initially thrown their support behind Ted Cruz.
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Post by Webster on Feb 24, 2024 20:17:58 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump aims for victory in South Carolina primary as former governor Haley makes standDonald Trump is likely about an hour away from notching another win in his quest to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, this time in South Carolina, where voters have spent the day casting ballots in the GOP primary. Polls close at 7pm ET in the Palmetto State, which is, of course, the home of Nikki Haley, the former governor who is Trump’s last remaining major rival for the GOP nomination. She may have roots in the state, but surveys have repeatedly shown Trump with a major lead over Haley, who has yet to win a single state in the nomination process thus far, but insists she will not quit her campaign. Surprise are always possible, and we’ll find out soon if any are in store for tonight.
Vincent DiMauro, 80, cast a ballot for Nikki Haley this afternoon at the main branch of the Charleston county public library because he believes Donald Trump represents a threat to the nation. “I want to see the country survive, and I don’t think it will under Trump,” DiMauro said. “He’s totally out of control. He has no respect for other human beings.” While acknowledging that he did not agree with Haley on every single issue, DiMauro said he would absolutely support her over 81-year-old Joe Biden. “I’m 80. I can’t be president. I know what my limitations are,” DiMauro said. “He’s just not mentally or physically capable of performing the job as it should be over the next four years.”
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Post by Webster on Feb 24, 2024 20:18:47 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Greeting from Nikki Haley’s primary night event in Charleston, which is being held in the chandelier ballroom of a luxury downtown hotel. Supporters have adopted Haley’s “happy warrior” mentality. Her team is still selling “barred permanently” shirts and “women for Haley” pins in the lobby – a sign of the steady stream of donations that is sustaining her longshot campaign. Inside, Fox News is on the big screens with the volume on loud. The network just interviewed Trumpworld spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt from the former president’s campaign night event in Columbia. In the interview, which blared across the ballroom, Leavitt derided Haley as “delusion.” Shortly after the interview aired, the Haley campaign muted the TV and turned on the music.
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Post by Webster on Feb 24, 2024 20:24:09 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Polls set to close in South Carolina's Republican primaryWe are five minutes away from 7pm, when polls are closing in South Carolina’s Republican primary. Donald Trump is facing off against the state’s former governor Nikki Haley, who is his last major challenger for the party’s nomination. Trump has won all of the states that have voted thus far in the Republican nomination process, and polls show him with an overwhelming advantage in the Palmetto state. Despite that, Haley and her campaign staff said repeatedly this week that she does not plan to quit. We rely on the Associated Press to call the outcomes of elections, and will let you know when they determine the winner in South Carolina. Polls close in South Carolina's Republican primaryPolls across South Carolina have now closed in the state’s Republican presidential primary. Trump wins South Carolina primaryDonald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, the Associated Press reports. While we don’t have his margin of victory yet, all indications point to a dominant win for Donald Trump in South Carolina. The Associated Press, which tracks these things very closely, called the race a minute after polls closed. It’s not much of a surprise – the latest opinion surveys of the state’s Republican voters showed him with a 30-point advantage over Nikki Haley. His victory in South Carolina adds to an unbroken streak of wins in the early voting states, after clinching victory in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
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Post by Webster on Feb 24, 2024 20:26:04 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump hails 'great day' after South Carolina victoryMinutes after his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary was confirmed, Donald Trump appeared on stage in Columbia before a crowd of supporters. “It’s a great day,” the former president said. He then turned to the contests to come. “Michigan’s up and we’re gonna have a tremendous success there and then we have a thing called Super Tuesday,” he said, referring to the 15 states that vote on 5 March. “We’re going to be up here on November 5, and we’re going to look at Joe Biden, and we’re gonna look him right in the eye. He’s destroying our country, and we’re gonna say, Joe, you’re fired. Get out.”
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