Nikki Haley’s candidacy is Never Trumpism’s 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 20 percentage points. She lost New Hampshire by 11 points, she came third in Iowa, and, much to Trump’s delight, she lost to ‘none of these candidates’ in Nevada. 

The Republican nomination snoozefest – it’s not a race – will now move to Super Tuesday, on 4 March, and Haley will almost certainly lose in all 15 states she’s contesting there. The only feasible 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 17 to Trump’s 107 – to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July as evidence of her claim to the nomination.