Nikki Haley’s dilemma in South Carolina: winning over voters who like her, but love Trump
Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Conway, S.C., Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Kelley)
(AP) — For South Carolina’s conservatives, deciding whether Nikki Haley ’s record warrants a promotion to the Oval Office seems less about her experience and abilities and more about the man standing in her way: Donald Trump.
“Ms. Haley did some fine things as governor — but Donald Trump is the man!” declared Doug Roberts, a retired electrician who came to a recent Haley rally wearing a Trump T-shirt. “Donald Trump is just not a regular man.”
Haley, Trump’s last major Republican rival, faces a make-or-break stretch ahead of South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary that could be Trump’s last obstacle to a third consecutive Republican nomination. While Haley has talked about her comfort running in her home state, interviews with almost two dozen South Carolina Republicans since the New Hampshire primary suggest Haley is struggling to win over conservatives who backed her twice for governor but haven’t soured on Trump for president.
