(DCWatchdog.com) – As Donald Trump is performing off the charts among GOP voters, there is mounting pressure on his only remaining competitor, Nikki Haley, to immediately drop out of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race, according to reports.
According to political experts cited by Politico and Breitbart News, the pressure on Haley has skyrocketed after Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis announced his withdrawal and endorsed Trump over the weekend.
The reports note that the former South Carolina governor’s chances for the GOP nomination have worsened, rather than improved, after DeSantis’s departure from the race on Sunday.
In every state except New Hampshire, Trump maintains a lead of at least 30 points over Haley.
In New Hampshire, known as the Granite State, Trump is ahead of Haley by approximately 15 points, emphasizing the daunting challenge she faces in securing the GOP nomination.
“[I]f she can’t win there — or come close to it — it’ll be a tough sell to stay in the race till South Carolina, four weeks later,” Politico Playbook commented.
Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for the New York Times, observed that current polling data clearly suggests Haley’s impending exit from the race, allowing Trump to concentrate on competing against President Joe Biden.
“So, without a monumental shift in the race, he will secure the nomination in short order,” Cohn observed.
Journalists Lisa Lerer, Jazmine Ulloa, and Michael C. Bender from the New York Times noted:
“Anything short of a victory or narrow defeat would put pressure on her to drop out rather than face three weeks of punishing ads from the Trump campaign in her home state, where she is already behind.”
“Haley’s performance on Tuesday is likely to determine the future of her campaign — and possibly her political career,” they added.
Despite the increasing pressure, Haley remains steadfast in her campaign.
“I know the political class is saying everybody needs to get behind Trump. This is not a coronation. We haven’t started with this [New Hampshire] election yet. We don’t do coronation. It’s about giving people options,” she told America’s Newsroom on Fox News on Monday morning.
Republican operative Scott Jennings expressed skepticism about Haley’s campaign gaining traction.
“That is not what a majority of Republican voters are clearly saying over and over again that they want. They want to replay this one more time so Donald Trump can be right,” he told Politico.
