Republican primaries in the United States: Nikki Haley prepares for defeat on her own land
The race for the Republican nomination for the presidential election at the end of 2024 continues.
She's passing through South Carolina this Saturday, Nikki Haley's home state.
The last opponent to still be on the road to Donald Trump is playing big.
Republican Nikki Haley, Donald Trump's opponent in the party primaries, on February 23 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
AP - Mic Smith
By: RFI Follow
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It's a day Nikki Haley has been waiting for for a while and probably dreading a little.
The former governor of South Carolina, twice elected head of state, hopes her friends have not forgotten her.
During her last rally, in Charleston, she came to defend her record at the time.
She also asks for help from her fellow citizens in an election that seems difficult for her.
She needs it, because she simply risks humiliation on her land.
The latest local opinion studies show a comfortable margin for Donald Trump, between 30 and 35 points ahead for the former president.
“
A number of notables on the stage have all meekly lined up behind Donald Trump, so to say she has no chance is still very generous.
Here we have an electorate who says to Niki Haley "dear madam, you were very good for the post of governor, but for the presidency, for the moment, we still choose Trump
", deciphers Lauric Henneton, lecturer at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
2028 on the horizon
The former president would like Nikki Haley to clear her path and not stand in the way of her triumph any longer.
For a month and
his victory in New Hampshire
, he has been threatening the candidate, evoking the existence of embarrassing matters for her, without providing any convincing information.
He also threatens his supporters with being banned from his movement.
And he resumes his habit of using derogatory nicknames.
For Nikki Haley, it’s “ Bird
Brain
.”
For the moment, nothing is happening.
Nikki Haley assures that she will stay in the race as long as possible, even in the event of a defeat at home, to show that when it comes to bird brains, she has a tough head.
“
This may seem presumptuous in view of the defeat it should suffer and the gap which is widening at the level of delegates,”
analyzes Lauric Henneton.
But we can see two things.
First, she continues to introduce herself to the Republican electorate beyond her state, and therefore to enter the race for 2028. She serves hands, she meets donors.
She is accumulating a war chest.
So it's not absurd if she thinks not of 2024 but of 2028. And then, if she thinks of 2024, if Trump is prevented, for health reasons for example, someone needs to replace him.
If she is still in the running, she remains the only one in the race...
"
She talks about the files in a reasonable manner.
His story illustrates the American dream.
She is a reasonable person and if she became president, when unforeseeable events arise, in my opinion she would respond very well.
01:10
Testimony.
Fervent support of Nikki Haley, Richard Sribnick wants to continue to believe in it
Guillaume Naudin
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