Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in an interview this week that her presidential campaign was not over, despite trailing former President Donald Trump in the latest RealClearPolitics average by more than 50 points.
Haley made the remarks during a Thursday interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “The Lead” when asked about RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel suggesting that Haley needed to drop out of the race.
“I absolutely think it was inappropriate,” Haley said. “We have had two states that have voted. You need 1,215 delegates. Donald Trump has 32. I have 17. We still have 48 states and more territories to go before we get there.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Jake,” she continued. “I’m going to continue to go all the way through South Carolina. Then we’re going to go on to Super Tuesday, and we’re going to keep on going forward. This is about the fact that we can’t live in chaos anymore.”
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TRANSCRIPT:
JAKE TAPPER: Did you think it was inappropriate when the RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel, suggested that you need to drop out because she didn’t see a path for you?
NIKKI HALEY: I absolutely think it was inappropriate. We have had two states that have voted. You need 1,215 delegates. Donald Trump has 32. I have 17. We still have 48 states and more territories to go before we get there.
I’m not going anywhere, Jake. I’m going to continue to go all the way through South Carolina. Then we’re going to go on to Super Tuesday, and we’re going to keep on going forward. This is about the fact that we can’t live in chaos anymore. This is about the fact that we have got to focus on what it’s going to take to not just get our domestic policy on track, but what are we going to do to prevent wars and to make sure we keep Americans safe?
We can’t do that with the two guys there. Americans are telling people that. We need to start listening and make sure that we focus on what it takes to win a primary, so that we can get our country back on track.
TAPPER: So you’re committed to staying through — staying in the race through Super Tuesday, no matter what happens in South Carolina?
HALEY: We’re moving.
I mean, what I will tell you in South Carolina is, we’re going to close that gap. My goal is to be more competitive in South Carolina. It’s always been to build on momentum. We started with 2 percent in Iowa. We ended with 20 percent. We went into New Hampshire. We got 43 percent. In South Carolina, we want to get even more competitive than that.
And then we will go into Michigan and we will go into Super Tuesday. We have a country to save. I’m not going anywhere, because I don’t want my kids to live like this. I don’t want anybody else’s kids to live like this. We have been in total distraction for a long time.
And we know that, when America’s distracted, the world is less safe. And all you have to do is look around the world and see that. I’m going to stay in this for the long haul, because I think it’s important and I know that we need to get this done.