Nikki Haley Responds to DeSantis Dropping Out: 'May the Best Woman Win'

As my colleague Mike Miller reported, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign on Sunday and endorsed former President Donald Trump.

I think it was pretty clear that after he had spent so much time and effort in Iowa and still was a distant second place, he didn't see a path forward and that's essentially what he said. If he doesn't see a path forward, then he's thinking about what's best for the country, dropping out and throwing his weight behind Trump. So he gave a classy speech, rather than wasting money and dividing the party that needs what it can to fight Joe Biden.

But now comes the question about former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. There had been reports that she might drop out if she didn't get big numbers in New Hampshire. She's had a lot of support there from NH Gov. Chris Sununu and she's expected to do better there than in Iowa.

She's now responded to DeSantis dropping out. Here's her formal statement.

Nikki Haley releases a statement on DeSantis dropping out 👇 pic.twitter.com/2gd9mXH5hm
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 21, 2024

She wished DeSantis well, saying he'd been a "good governor." Then she said that only one state has voted so far and this is "not a country of coronations." Half the votes went to Donald Trump and half did not, she said. Voters deserve a say, and they will have it in New Hampshire. "When I'm president, I will do everything in my power to show them they made the right decision."

Then she spoke to the issue while she was campaigning in New Hampshire with Sununu. She treated his dropping out as though it was a victory, flashing a "V" for victory. She then said that all the men, except for one, had dropped out.

Nikki Haley's response to Ron DeSantis suspending his 2024 presidential campaign:
"May the best woman win" pic.twitter.com/VUpTxdBAfz
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) January 21, 2024

"This comes down to what you want. Do you want more of the same or do you want something new? Do you want to go back to a country where they get to decide who's a good person and who's a bad person? Who's the right person and who's the wrong person? Or do you want to come together as Americans?"

She then went on to talk about securing the border, getting inflation down, and getting kids reading. She said they were going to do everything to try to win in New Hampshire over the next two days.

Then she quipped, "May the best woman win."

But Trump still has a comfortable lead over Haley at 50 to 39 percent after all Haley has thrown into New Hampshire. And now, with DeSantis out, polls have shown that the second-place choice of the DeSantis people is more likely to be Trump. So DeSantis dropping out may push Trump even higher.

The poll found that 62 percent of likely GOP New Hampshire voters who selected DeSantis as their first-choice candidate chose Trump as their second-choice candidate, while 30 percent chose Haley as their alternate candidate.

So that doesn't look good for Haley.

Nikki Haley Explains Why She's Still in the Race, Questions Trump's Mental 'Decline'