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LOS ANGELES – Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has her eyes on the subsequent main contest within the GOP nominating calendar – the primary later this month in her dwelling state of South Carolina, in addition to on Super Tuesday in early March.
And Haley is downplaying this week’s primary and caucus in Nevada, saying they weren’t “anything we were looking at” and charging that the caucus is “rigged” for former President Donald Trump.
Haley made her feedback Wednesday, in the future after she misplaced by a greater than two-to-one margin to the “none of these candidates” possibility in Nevada’s state-run GOP presidential primary. The contest was open solely to registered Republican voters.
HALEY LOSES NEVADA REPUBLICAN PRIMARY WHERE TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump motions earlier than talking at a marketing campaign occasion Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) (AP Photo/John Loche)
Trump, the commanding front-runner for the Republican presidential nominationas he bids a 3rd straight time for the White House, was not on Tuesday’s poll. And voters casting ballots within the state-run Republican nominating contest could not write in Trump’s identify, however they might vote for a “none of these candidates” possibility.
Trump supporters Fox News spoke with at polling stations on primary day in Las Vegas mentioned they have been casting a poll for “none of these candidates.”
While her identify was on the poll, the previous two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador within the Trump administration ignored the Nevada primary.
HALEY CAMPAIGN CHARGES NEVADA GOP CAUCUSES ‘RIGGED’
Haley did not marketing campaign in Nevada forward of the primary and hasn’t been within the state since talking in late October on the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual management convention.
“In terms of Nevada, we have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada,” Haley marketing campaign supervisor Betsy Ankney instructed reporters on Monday. “So Nevada is not and has never been our focus.”
Haley, talking Wednesday with FOX 11 Los Angeles throughout a cease in southern California, emphasised that “we knew months ago that we weren’t going to spend a day or a dollar in Nevada, because it wasn’t worth it. And so we didn’t even count Nevada. That wasn’t anything we were looking at.”
Hours earlier, because the votes have been being counted on Tuesday night time, the previous president took to his Truth Social community to take purpose at Haley.
“A bad night for Nikki Haley. Losing by almost 30 points in Nevada to “None of These Candidates.” Watch, she’ll soon claim Victory!” he argued.
And Trump marketing campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita charged: “More embarrassment coming in South Carolina …the @NikkiHaley Delusional Tour continues,’ LaCivita claimed in a social media post.
BIDEN HITS THE JACKPOT IN NEVADA’S DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
While Trump wasn’t on the primary ballot, his name will be listed on Thursday in a presidential caucus being run by the Nevada GOP.
The confusion over having two competing contests dates to 2021, when Democrats, who at the time controlled both Nevada’s governor’s office and the legislature, passed a law changing the presidential nominating contest from long-held caucuses to a state-run primary.
The Nevada GOP objected, but last year their legal bid to stop the primary from going forward was rejected. In a twist, the judge in the case allowed the state Republicans to hold their own caucuses, where all 26 delegates will be up for grabs.
A voting sign outside of a polling station in Las Vegas on Feb. 6, 2024, as Nevada holds its presidential primary (Fox News – Monica Oroz )
The state GOP ruled that candidates who put their name on the state-run primary ballot could not take part in the caucuses.
Haley and some of the other now-departed Republican presidential candidates viewed the Nevada GOP as too loyal to Trump and decided to skip a caucus they believed was tipped in favor of the former president.
Nevada GOP chair Michael McDonald and both of the state’s members of the Republican National Committee are supporting Trump.
WHAT NIKKI HALEY TOLD FOX DIGITAL ABOUT WHAT SHE NEEDS TO DO TO KEEP RUNNING
“We made the choice early on that we weren’t going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity that, you understand, to take part in a course of that was rigged for Trump,” Ankney argued on Monday.
And Haley on Wednesday charged that “Nevada – it’s such a rip-off. They have been presupposed to have a primary. Trump rigged it so the GOP chairman – who’s been indicted – would go and create a caucus.”
“We knew that it was rigged from the beginning,” Haley argued “Our focus is on South Carolina, Michigan, Super Tuesday.”
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley waves to a crowd during a campaign event at New Realm Brewing Co., Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford) (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Michigan holds its primary on Tuesday Feb. 27, three days after the South Carolina Republican primary. Fifteen states, including the behemoths of California and Texas, hold contests a week later, on Super Tuesday.
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Haley’s two campaign stops on Wednesday in California were her first to date in any of the Super Tuesday states. And the swing to the Golden State appears in part to be a marker for Haley as she pushes back against calls by some Republicans to drop out of the race and give up her uphill climb for the nomination.
The trip also included a series of fundraisers. And as Fox News Digital first reported on Wednesday, Haley hauled in $1.7 million in fundraising during her two days in California.
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