(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel suggested on Monday that the path to victory for Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has closed.
In an interview with Fox News, McDaniel pointed out that before former President Donald Trump, no candidate had secured dual victories in Iowa and New Hampshire and still gone on to become the Republican nominee.
“We have never had a nominee in our party that has won without winning either Iowa or New Hampshire,” McDaniel said. “I’m looking at the math and the path going forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley. I think she’s run a great campaign.”
McDaniel said that Trump, the GOP front-runner, will be the Republican nominee for president, set to face incumbent President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.
“There is a message that’s coming out from the voters, which is very clear: We need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump,” she added.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel urges Haley to get out of the race pic.twitter.com/hrTL4FikuH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 24, 2024
In response to McDaniel, the Haley campaign claimed: “We don’t do coronations in this country. We do elections. The political elites can back Donald Trump, but Nikki Haley will continue to fight for the nearly 50% of Republican primary voters and the 70% of all Americans who don’t want a Biden-Trump rematch.”
McDaniel’s comments followed Trump’s victories in New Hampshire and Iowa. The former president won New Hampshire over Haley, the remaining candidate, with nearly 54.4% of the votes. In contrast, Haley secured 43.3%.
Trump also comfortably won the Iowa caucuses with 51% of the votes, surpassing ex-candidate Ron DeSantis (21.2%) and Haley (19.1%).
The RNC chairwoman’s statements depart from the previous refusals to back Trump in primary.
Notably, the RNC refused to cancel the Republican primary debates even after Trump pledged not to attend any of them. The Trump team, along with some RNC members, called on the RNC to unite behind the former president.
“[A]s long as there are candidates who qualify for the stage and want to debate, the RNC will continue to sanction debates,” an RNC spokesperson claimed in response to the calls to cancel the debates.
WATCH: RSBN talks with Jason Miller @JasonMillerinDC about whether President Trump will participate in future primary debates, Biden’s record of failure
Watch Trump’s rally LIVE ➡️ https://t.co/BlshsrWxFr pic.twitter.com/5zkm6Y7xLX
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) November 9, 2023
