Nikki Haley’s NeverTrump last stand

“I’m a woman of my word,” said Nikki Haley after another humiliating defeat last night. “I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”

But what, really, is the point? South Carolina is Haley’s home state and she lost by more than twenty percentage points. She lost New Hampshire by eleven points, she came third in Iowa, and, much to Trump’s delight, she lost to “none of these candidates” in Nevada. 

Without Trump, Republican voters distrust and detest their party. They haven’t for some time

The Republican nomination snoozefest — it’s not a race — will now move to Super Tuesday, on March 4, and Haley will almost certainly lose in all fifteen states she’s contesting there. The only plausible path to the nomination for Haley now is Trump to drop dead or drop out because of his manifold criminal trials, in which case she could present her small number of delegates — she currently has seventeen to Trump’s 107 — to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July as evidence of her claim to the nomination. 

But that’s almost certainly not going to happen. Even if Trump did suddenly vanish from the race, it would be almost impossible for Haley to claim to be the obvious alternative, given the fact she doesn’t seem to be able to win anywhere. 

Haley’s candidacy has become what it was perhaps always destined to be — the old Republican Party’s last, losing stand against Trumpism. Haley tried not be a NeverTrump candidate, but she’s had to become one because that’s the only lane open to those who oppose him. 

There’s currently an interesting row brewing between the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. Henry Barbour, a senior member of the committee, has proposed a resolution which would prohibit the party from co-ordinating or fundraising with Trump until he has fully secured the nomination.

Team Trump has objected. His campaign wants to install its co-manager Chris LaCivita as the RNC’s national co-ordinator and says that longer the party delays, the more it helps Joe Biden and the Democrats. 

The party might also want to consider whether Donald Trump is the only man who can connect the party to its electorate. Last night, in his victory speech, Trump gave a generous introduction to Lindsey Graham, the highly experienced but widely distrusted South Carolina Senator. But the crowd booed Graham viciously. 

“No, remember,” Trump insisted. “I love him. He’s a good man.” But his fans weren’t exactly won over. The crowd also booed Trump’s mention of South Carolina GOP chair Drew McKissick. 

“We have a highly opinionated group of people!” joked Trump. But the point was clear: without Trump, Republican voters distrust and detest their party. They have for some time. 

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.