Republican Nikki Haley is set to pull out of the running in the presidential nomination race, after she suffered a string of significant losses in primaries on so-called ‘Super Tuesday.’
The losses prompted allies to believe that the end of her 2024 campaign for the White House was imminent.
Today, it was being widely reported by half-past 11 UK time, that she was preparing to suspend her campaign and address her supporters.
Reports of her suspending her campaign will mean there is a clear and unobstructed path for Donald Trump to be the Republican presidential nominee.
She did not appear in public as American officials counted ballots coast-to-coast late into the night.
Privately, Haley’s team expected Republican rival Donald Trump to win almost every one of the so-called “Super Tuesday” contests, despite their best efforts to stop him.
Haley, who as of midnight local time had logged her only victory of the day in Vermont, spent the night huddled with staff watching returns near her South Carolina home.
Spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said: “The mood is jubilant. There is lots of food and music.”
Later, Perez-Cubas said the support Haley received in Vermont and elsewhere showed that the Republican party is far from unified.
“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united’,” she said. “Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump. That is not the unity our party needs for success.”
Despite the party atmosphere, Haley could face growing pressure to suspend her campaign in the coming days.
Press Association – Steve Peoples, AP
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