According to the Associated Press, former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley will have no wins in the upcoming primaries.
The last remaining candidate able to challenge Donald Trump's almost certain GOP nomination for the president of the United States may be privately preparing for a severe blowout loss in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday.
If she does not win that state, insiders believe there is no other state in which she can beat Donald Trump in the primaries in the coming weeks.
She reportedly told the AP that she would not leave the Republican primary election on Saturday, whether or not she won in South Carolina.
Her fundraising numbers are at the highest of her political career, and Haley has vowed to remain in the race until Super Tuesday's primaries on March 5.
"Ten days after South Carolina, another 20 states vote. I mean, this isn't Russia. We don't want someone to go in and just get 99% of the vote," Haley said. "What is the rush? Why is everybody so panicked about me having to get out of this race?"
"I refuse to quit," Haley later told a small collection of supporters gathered in South Carolina in a speech outlining her rationale for staying in. "South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I'll still be running for president. I'm not going anywhere."
There are some Republicans who have encouraged Haley to stay the course even if she loses, even up until the Republican National Convention in July.
This could help her if Trump is a convicted felon by that time. The MAGA movement has been pressing Haley to exit. Still, she has remained steadfast in her resolve, highlighted Trump's legal exposure, and criticized MAGA activists who say she's hurting Trump's chances to defeat President Joe Biden if she remains in the race.
"That's about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. If I get out of the race today, it will be the longest general election in history," Haley told The AP.
"Instead of asking me what states I'm gonna win, why don't we ask how he's gonna win a general election after spending a full year in a courtroom?"
Never before has a Republican lost the first two primaries and gone on to win the party's presidential election.
