Nikki Haley Provides Big Clue She Is About To Drop Out of Race

Nikki Haley's campaign has provided a clue that she might be about to drop out of the Republican primary race after suffering a series of losses on Super Tuesday.

All events have been removed from the former South Carolina governor's website, sparking rumors on social media about the future of her campaign.

However, Haley is expected to deliver brief remarks in the Charleston area of South Carolina around 10 a.m. ET today, where it is thought she will announce she is dropping out of the presidential race, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Context

After over a dozen states voted in GOP primaries on Tuesday, Trump increased his number of delegates to 797, according to the Associated Press. A candidate needs 1,215 delegates to secure the nomination, so the results show Trump is on track to be named as the Republican nominee for November's presidential elections.

Important Republican primaries are set to take place next week, including in Georgia and Mississippi on March 12. Meanwhile, a series of primaries will also be held on March 19 in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio.

Donald Trump, Haley's Republican rival, has already scheduled a rally in Rome, Georgia, on Saturday in advance of the primary.

What We Know

Haley has not made any announcements about the future of her campaign following the Super Tuesday results, and has previously vowed to remain in the race.

Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for the Haley campaign, said: "We're honored to have received the support of millions of Americans across the country today, including in Vermont where Nikki became the first Republican woman to win two presidential primary contests.

"Unity is not achieved by simply claiming 'we're united.' Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump."

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Mario Nawfal, an X user with over 1 million followers, posted a link to Haley's website and wrote: "Haley's events page on her campaign website has been cleared of all events, even past ones, sparking rumors she may be about to announce her withdrawal from the Republican presidential race."

Newsweek contacted a Haley representative by email for comment.

Views

Speaking to Newsweek, Scott Lucas, a professor in international politics at University College Dublin, said Haley is likely to drop out of the race within weeks. "Nikki Haley is going to pull out now because Donald Trump will lock up the nomination within the next couple of weeks," he said.

He added: "Nikki Haley stayed in the race not because she thought she could win it but she stayed in it for Super Tuesday because a lot of people behind her, a lot of Republican members a lot of Republican donors are very unsettled about Donald Trump, they're very unsettled about his legal problems, they're very unsettled because he's unpredictable, they're very unsettled because of the damage that he can cause on domestic issues and on foreign policy."

He said the Republican Party is very divided and whether Haley and her supporters switch their allegiance to Trump after Haley drops out of the race will be a key issue to look out for going forward.

What's Next?

The next primary votes and caucuses take place on Friday, when Republicans will go to the polls in American Samoa. Then, next Tuesday, Republicans will vote in Washington, Georgia, Hawaii and Mississippi.

According to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight, overall, Trump is expected to get 77.5 percent of the GOP primary vote share, while Haley is polling at 15.7 percent.

Update 03/06/24, 5:28 a.m. ET and 5:58 a.m. ET: This story was updated to include additional information.