Outside of a Vermont primary win, Nikki Halley got shellacked on Super Tuesday by former President Donald Trump, who racked up win after win after win against his former ambassador to the United Nations.
With Trump’s delegate count over a thousand—ten times Haley’s own—she gave a speech on Wednesday in her home state of South Carolina announcing that she was dropping out of the race, though she declined to endorse Trump.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him,” Haley said. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”
Trump and his supporters took the news gleefully, quickly posting their delight at running the final opposition candidate Trump had to face out of the race.
“Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday.
“[I] would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in this history of our Nation,” he concluded.
But that doesn’t seem likely, especially given the response of Haley’s staff.
“Reports: Nimrata Haley will suspend her campaign today after more humiliating, landslide loses on Super Tuesday,” Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake ahead of Haley’s announcement, using Haley’s given name, which has become an intentional slur in MAGA-world.
“No peace, bitch,” posted Nachama Soloveichik, a Communications Director for Haley’s campaign, over Lake’s post.
Soloveichik didn’t respond to questions about her post and plans for the general election.
Over on the Nikki Haley subreddit though, what to do now was all anybody could talk about.
“Who Are You Voting For Now?” was the title of the most popular thread on the forum after Haley made her announcement.
“Honestly I’ll probably not choose any candidate,” posted u/PrincessRuri. “I don’t think I’m capable of voting for Trump again.”
That echoed the sentiments of most posters on the forum, who said that not voting for Trump or anybody who supports him would send a message to the party.
“Originally I was planning on skipping the presidential race and voting for all of the other Republican candidates down ticket (US Senate, US House of Representatives and State legislative races) but I am now at the point where I will not vote for any candidate who enthusiastically (as opposed to reluctantly) embraces Trump,” explained u/thorleywinston. “Again, I won’t vote for the Democrats (or any left-leaning third-party candidate like RFK Jr) but I’m not going to vote for Trump or his acolytes either.”
But other posters said the only way to actually send a message to the party would be to vote for Biden.
“Biden. Anything but trump,” posted u/Masterhearts_XIII.
“Biden. If Trump wins the election, the Republican party is lost for a generation to isolationism and anti-capitalist sentiment,” u/DoctorTide explained.
“Biden,” added u/AccountNervous3467. “I’ve always been a card carrying republican. Unfortunately, the only way I see to save the Republican Party from Trump’s poison is for the democrats to have a massive victory in November. I may even vote democrat in the races further down the ballot as well as it’s the only way I know of to signal to the GOP it needs to drop Trump or it will lose a good portion of its typical base.”
And while most people debated between Biden or not voting at all, some people disgusted with all the options had other ideas.
“Nikki Haley by write in. I can’t stomach by first ever vote going to Trump or Biden,” wrote uVarious_Ad_2549.
“First time voter here too,” replied u/Cyancat123. “I’m debating whether I should vote Haley or simply not bother at all.”
Another thread title summed up the feelings of a lot of people on the subreddit: “I hope she doesn’t endorse Trump.”
Given the staunch posting of her staff, it seems like a Haley endorsement won’t be coming soon, if at all.