Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has downplayed the importance of her promise to the Republican National Committee that she would endorse the party’s nominee after former President Donald Trump‘s push to have supporters, including daughter-in-law Lara Trump, lead the organization.
It was important to answer in the affirmative last year to take part in the RNC’s debates, according to Haley, but the “RNC is now not the same RNC.”
“I’ll make what decision I want to make,” Haley told NBC Sunday. “But that’s not something I’m thinking about. And I think that while you all think about that, I’m looking at the fact that we had thousands of people in Virginia, we’re headed to North Carolina, we’re going to continue to go to Vermont, and Maine, and all these states to go and show people that there is a path forward. And so, I don’t look at what if.”
But the issue of whether she would endorse Trump if he were to become the Republican nominee was crucial to, for example, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie deciding not to support Haley after he suspended his campaign before the New Hampshire primary. Trump never signed the RNC loyalty pledge, but he also did not participate in any of the debates.
“First of all, if you talk about an endorsement, you’re talking about a loss,” Haley said. “I don’t think like that. When you’re in a race, you don’t think about losing. You think about continuing to go forward. What I can tell you is I don’t think Donald Trump or Joe Biden should be president.”
“There’s a huge difference between me and Chris Christie,” she added. “Chris Christie ran because he just didn’t want Trump. I am running because it’s not about Trump. I voted for him twice. I was proud to serve America in his administration. This is not a Never Trump movement. This is the fact that I see America going into a bad direction.”
Haley’s comments come before Super Tuesday on March 5, during which Republicans in 15 states and territories will vote for their preferred nominee. Haley has long contended that suspending her campaign while she remains “competitive” and before many Republicans have voted is undemocratic, but her definition of competitive has changed as her percentage of support has become smaller, at least since New Hampshire.
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“Let’s see what happens on Super Tuesday,” Haley said Sunday. “They didn’t think we’d make it to Iowa, and we came 1% from second. They said we were going to be 30 points down in New Hampshire. We got 43%. They didn’t think that it would be between me and Trump in the end, and it is. So, I think we just keep going, and looking, and saying, ‘What else can we do? How many more people can we touch, and what message can we continue to give?'”
“If the people want to see me go forward, they’ll show it,” she continued. “They’ll show it in their votes. They’ll show it in their donations … This is about really trying to get everyone to realize that this primary isn’t between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley. Yes, on the ballot, that’s what you see. This primary is, “What is the direction of the Republican Party?”
