While Nikki Haley has suspended her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, her results in some key states highlight vulnerabilities for Donald Trump in a potential 2024 rematch with Joe Biden.
Haley won about 40% of the vote against Trump in early primary states, suggesting as many as 4 in 10 GOP voters have concerns about Trump.
“He lost 40% of the primary vote in all of the early states,” Haley said. “You can’t win the general election if you can’t win that 40%.”
In Michigan this week, Haley outperformed Trump in suburban Detroit and western counties like Kent, areas Biden flipped in 2020.
“This is by far, to me, the one narrative we saw (Tuesday) that will have major implications in November,” pollster Richard Czuba said.
“She can’t name one state she can win, let alone be competitive in,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
Interviews found many Haley voters were discouraged by Trump’s extremism, legal issues, and focus on revenge.
“We’ve been tightening the belt as much as we can, but can’t think about having kids until we can afford it,” contractor Jonathan Paquette said. ”That’s the kind of discussion this campaign should be about, not about lawsuits and criminal indictments. That doesn’t solve any of our problems.”
Haley’s emphasis on integrity and calm leadership found appeal, indicating Trump faces obstacles retaining support from such constituencies.
Her results provide insights into swing voters who could decide another Trump-Biden election.
“It’s all about revenge with him,” Lori Jacobson said. Haley, she said, “has a calm that stands in such contrast to him, though she is a very strong woman.”
“Forty percent is better than no percent,” Uber driver Alyssa Prevo said.
“Forty percent is a lot, it’s not a little, even though she lost her home state,” Prevo said. “People focus on the losing, I don’t. She has integrity. And for me, the umbrella, integrity, is everything she has under that.”
“That’s as far as we’ve thought so far,” Haley said. “We’ve taken it one state, one month at a time, and focused on that — that’s what’s gotten us to this moment is discipline, hard work, being smarter than everybody else and making sure that we do whatever it takes to scrappy as we need, to get to the finish line.”
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