Although she has yet to win a 2024 presidential primary, Nikki Haley remains convinced American voters want her to stay in the race. Following a defeat in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday, the Haley campaign moved to Michigan, where Tuesday's election is anticipated to be yet another Donald Trump victory.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Haley cited a recent poll that showed almost three quarters of Americans would prefer someone other than former President Trump or President Joe Biden.
"I'm doing what I think is right," she said. "I'm doing what I believe 70% of Americans want me to do."
Despite Haley's confidence that Americans would prefer an alternative to Trump, it has yet to materialize in any of the Republican primaries. In the most recent FiveThirtyEight's poll, Haley is down an astounding 57 points to Trump in Michigan.
Although Haley had previously pledged to endorse the Republican Party's eventual nominee, she now hesitates to commit to Trump when pressed.
"What I will tell you is that I have serious concerns about Donald Trump," she said noting Trump constant legal entanglements as a concern. "I have more serious concerns about Joe Biden. This may be his survival mode to pay his legal fees and get out of some sort of legal peril, but this is like suicide for our country."
"We've got to realize that if we don't have someone who can win a general election, all we are doing is caving to the socialist left."
Haley made stops at two campaign events in Michigan on Sunday and although she touched on the standard Republican talking points such as decreasing the national debt and controlling the southern border, a portion of her message focused on electability.
A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed that while Biden is 4 points ahead of Trump in a hypothetical 2024 election matchup, the same poll has Haley ahead of Biden by 3 points in the general elections.
"Republicans, we can want — and I know all of you want to — to change the direction of our country," she told a crowd at a hotel in Troy, Michigan. "And we can want that all day. But that is not going to happen if we can't win,"
While Haley makes a last ditch effort to convince Michigan voters, reports have circulated of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in talks with the Trump campaign regarding a potential endorsement.
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