Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks to supporters during her speech Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Haley polled in the single digits for much of last year and faced an uphill climb to win the nomination. But courtesy of well-regarded performances in the late summer and autumn in the first three GOP primary debates, Haley grabbed momentum and saw her poll numbers soar.
That surge increased in December, as Haley caught up with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the latest Iowa polls and in national surveys, for a distant second place behind Trump.
And Haley zoomed to second place and narrowed the gap with Trump in New Hampshire, thanks in part to a crucial endorsement from Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
Former President Donald Trump, center, speaks during an election night watch party at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But Haley remained defiant amid increasing calls by fellow Republicans for her to drop out of the race.
"I refuse to quit. South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere," Haley emphasized in a major speech a couple of days ahead of her home state primary.
And she emphasized that "I have no fear of Trump’s retribution."
On the campaign trail days ahead of the South Carolina primary, Haley told her supporters, "I will take the bruises. I will take the cuts. This is going to be messy and I'll take the hurt, because I believe nothing good comes easy. Sometimes we have to feel pain to appreciate the blessing."
Haley has also turned up the volume in her verbal attacks on Trump, from his legal entanglements to his controversial comments on NATO and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as well as his mocking of her husband, who is overseas on a military tour of duty.
And she continued to spotlight both the 77-year-old Trump and 81-year-old President's Biden's verbal miscues as she repeatedly questioned their mental and physical durability and argued that it was time for a new generation to steer the country.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at a rally during the District of Columbia's Republican presidential primary at the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Friday, March 1, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Haley topped Trump by roughly 30 points in Washington D.C.'s Republican primary this past weekend. She captured 19 delegates and made history as the first woman to win a GOP presidential primary or caucus.
Haley, who garnered strong support in the GOP primaries from independents and whose fundraising remained formidable, said she was staying in the race as an option for voters dissatisfied with a likely Biden-Trump rematch.
But Haley held no public events or election night gatherings on Super Tuesday evening and remained mum on any plans going forward.
Haley reiterated in an interview on Saturday with Fox News' Bill Melugin that "we're going to go as long as we're competitive," but she did not specifically define what competitive means.
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