After her decisive loss in the South Carolina Republican primary, Nikki Haley is being cut loose by the Americans For Prosperity Action, the powerful conservative group backed by the Koch brothers, that was supporting her in the Republican presidential primary.
AFP CEO Emily Seidel said Sunday that the group’s political arm, AFP Action, had to “take stock” of its spending priorities and will now focus its efforts on competitive Senate and House races.
“She has made it clear that she will continue to fight and we wholeheartedly support her in this effort,” Seidel wrote of Haley. “But given the challenges in the primary states ahead, we don’t believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory.”
Seidel’s message underlines the widely held belief that Haley’s chances of besting Trump in any primary, and more importantly, of wresting the nomination from him, are non-existent. Continuing to fund her campaign would amount to throwing away money. Haley has already lost four primaries. While the loss in her home state did not come as a surprise, nevertheless it was a blow, especially considering that she had been a popular governor.
“She’s done some good things,” Davis Paul, 36, said about Haley as he waited for Trump at a recent rally in Conway. “But I just don’t think she’s ready to tackle a candidate like Trump. I don’t think many people can.”
Haley, however, will not throw in the sponge. She declared she will continue her primary fight and has committed to running through Super Tuesday on March 5. For Haley, resistance has come to signify more than just trying to beat Trump; it has taken on a wider significance. “Ten days after South Carolina, another 20 states vote. I mean, this isn’t Russia. We don’t want someone to go in and just get 99% of the vote,” Haley said. “What is the rush? Why is everybody so panicked about me having to get out of this race?”
The fact is that Haley continues to rake in donations from grassroots supporters and donors with deep pockets. Reuters suggests that, “The financial spigots remain open in part because donors believe Trump’s multiple criminal cases could yet end up pushing him out of the race, according to interviews with around a dozen donors, fundraisers and advisers to donors.”
Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for Haley, thanked AFP for its support and alluded to a bigger mission, saying that the campaign has a “country to save.” On Sunday afternoon she also remarked that Haley had raised more than $1 million online in the last 24 hours.
Yet despite cutting their support for Haley, the AFP Action is not sanguine about Trump either. It is sticking by its position that Trump on the ballot will make it harder for the GOP to win in November.
“If Donald Trump is at the top of the Republican ticket, the risk of one-party rule by a Democratic Party captured by the Progressive Left is severe and would do irreparable damage to the country,” Seidel wrote Sunday. “The last three election cycles have painted a very clear picture of what we can expect from voters who consistently rejected Donald Trump and his impact on the Republican party brand.”
Seidel cites the recent special election held in New York’s District 3 to replace the ousted GOP representative George Santos and sees Democrat Tom Suozzi’s victory as a harbinger of what could happen in November should Trump be the nominee. She also noted a similar disturbing outcome in the Virginia statehouse elections last fall and a special election held in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
“And we should expect this to increase further as the criminal trials progress,” Seidel added, referring to Trump’s ongoing legal problems. Trump is scheduled to stand trial on March 25 on charges stemming from hush money payments to a porn star.
Haley remains feisty. “Instead of asking me what states I’m gonna win, why don’t we ask how he’s gonna win a general election after spending a full year in a courtroom?”
All that Haley and her supporters say may be true, but the undeniable fact is that MAGA followers, who dominate the Party, aren’t interested in any other candidate. More than three-quarters of Republican voters said they made their minds up before this year even began, with an overwhelming majority of those early deciders backing Trump.
Seidel said the AFP “stands firm behind our endorsement for Nikki Haley,” describing her as “a special leader with conviction, resolve, and steel in her spine to jump into a tough race with a narrow path.”
Yet despite the admiration, their funds are being diverted towards other Senate and Congressional races.
