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Nikki Haley after her loss at South Carolina

Photo: Carlos Osorio / AP

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley suffered another serious setback in the primary race against former US President Donald Trump.

After Haley's defeat in her home state of South Carolina, the influential and financially strong network of conservative billionaire Charles Koch announced on Sunday that it would no longer actively support the 52-year-old Republican presidential candidate.

The network's political arm, Americans for Prosperity Action, said it remains behind Haley;

she is “the best candidate”.

"But given the challenges in the next primary states, we don't believe an outside group can make a difference in broadening their path to victory."

The organization therefore wants to use its resources “where we can make a difference,” it said in a statement.

These are the elections for the US Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Koch network threw its support behind Haley in November and, according to media reports, subsequently spent tens of millions of dollars to support Haley in the primary campaign.

The network said it saw the former governor of South Carolina as “the best choice for our country” and the best candidate to prevent Trump from winning the Republican primary.

Haley wants to last at least until Super Tuesday

Many conservatives fear that the ex-president could lose to incumbent Joe Biden as a candidate in the presidential election on November 5th.

Although the right-wing populist is still extremely popular among the right-wing base, he is met with resolute rejection by large parts of the population.

In the primaries for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump seems to be unstoppable: The 77-year-old has won the four previous primaries in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and, most recently, South Carolina at the weekend, with a large lead over the party's internal competition .

It's only a matter of time before Haley, the last remaining serious Trump opponent, throws in the towel.

The 52-year-old has announced that she wants to stay in the race at least until “Super Tuesday” on March 5th, when the Republicans will hold primaries in 15 states.

czl/AFP