Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, after suffering a humiliating loss in the Nevada primaries, complained that former President Donald Trump “rigged” the race to prevent her from making a decent showing.
Haley’s comments come weeks before the much-anticipated South Carolina primaries. Given that this is her home state, it will be a critical race that could decide the future of her candidacy.
During an interview, a reporter asked if her loss in Nevada would hurt her campaign. Haley responded, claiming that the race was a “scam” and explained why her campaign did not direct any spending in the state.
“No. I mean, Nevada, it's such a scam. They were supposed to have a primary. Trump rigged it so that the GOP chairman who's been indicted would go and create a caucus. 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. We knew that was rigged from the start."
The candidate continued, explaining that her team is focused on South Carolina and Michigan. “So, if you look what we did in Iowa and you look what we did in New Hampshire, we're continuing to grow. That's what matters, I think, more than anything else,” she said.
Haley then turned her comments to the seeming chaos bombarding the Republican Party at the moment.
"But look at what happened this week. Here you have Republicans lost a major vote on the border. Republicans lost a major vote on Israel. Donald Trump was found that he will not have immunity in all of these court cases coming up. The RNC chair is fired. All of this chaos is happening around us, and Donald Trump's fingerprints are on every bit of it. We can't continue as the Republican Party to go forward with this chaos."
Nikki Haley claims system is "rigged" by Trump after getting fewer votes than "none of the above" during Nevada primaries.
— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) February 7, 2024
"It's such a scam. They were supposed to have a primary. Trump rigged it so that the GOP chairman who's been indicted would go and create a caucus." pic.twitter.com/3IDVH7twwz
Haley was on the wrong end of a sound drubbing in Nevada’s primaries. There were more voters who indicated they supported none of the candidates than those who actually backed Haley’s candidacy.
READ MORE: Second to 'None': Nikki Haley Loses Nevada Primary - the Jokes Write Themselves
The development fueled even more speculation about whether there is a point for the former governor to remain in the race.
Despite prognostications that former U.N. Ambassador, South Carolina governor, and presidential candidate Nikki Haley would pull off an easy sweep of the Nevada Presidential Preference Primary, reality reared its head — and it was ugly.
Nikki Haley was swamped Tuesday in Nevada’s symbolic Republican presidential primary as GOP voters resoundingly picked the “none of these candidates” option on the ballot in a repudiation of the former U.N. ambassador who is the last remaining major rival to front-runner Donald Trump.
Trump, the former president, didn’t compete in the primary, which doesn’t award any delegates needed to win the GOP nomination. He’s instead focused on caucuses that will be held Thursday and will help him move closer to becoming the Republican standard-bearer.
Haley continues to express optimism about her chances of getting the GOP nod. But the numbers are not looking favorable. Trump is currently leading her 60 percent to 29.3 percent in South Carolina, according to the latest RealClearPolling average. Nationally, Haley fares even worse, with Trump beating her at 74.4 percent to 18.1 percent.
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