Nikki Haley quits Republican presidential candidate race, paves way for Donald Trump

South Carolina [US], March 6 : Republican presidential candidate, Nikki Haley formally announced on Wednesday to end her Republican presidential candidate campaign, CNN reported.
"The time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets," she said Wednesday in South Carolina.
"Although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in," she said while speaking from Charleston, South Carolina.
Nikki Haley congratulated former President Donald Trump during her announcement ending her presidential campaign but didn't endorse him.
"In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July. I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America's president. Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us," Haley said.
Haley added, "it is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that."
According to the report, Haley had emerged as former President Donald Trump's sole rival in the Republican presidential primary campaign, and while he rolled to victory in 14 of the 15 GOP contests on Super Tuesday, she foiled a possible clean sweep by winning in Vermont.
Soon after Nikki Haley suspended her campaign, former President Donald Trump posted on social media that the former South Carolina governor "trounced" on Super Tuesday and invited her supporters to join his political movement, CNN reported.
"Nikki Haley got trounced last night, in record-setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries. Much of her money came from Radical Left Democrats, as did many of her voters, almost 50%, according to the polls," Trump posted.
He continued, "At this point, I hope she stays in the "race" and fights it out until the end! I'd like to thank my family, friends, and the Great Republican Party for helping me to produce, by far, the most successful Super Tuesday in history, and I would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our nation."
Across the Republican primaries on Super Tuesday, Haley won just 43 of the Republican delegates, while Trump won 764.
Ahead of the South Carolina primary in February, Haley vowed to stay in the race through to Super Tuesday on March 5, saying she would continue to compete in the primary "until the last person votes, because I believe in a better America and a brighter future for our kids."
Earlier on Monday, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley defeated former US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, in the Republican primary, according to The Hill projections.
Haley garnered 1,274 votes to former President Trump's 676 with all precincts reporting, according to the US-based news daily.
This is her first victory over the former president in the 2024 campaign to become the Republican presidential candidate.
The contest took place in a downtown hotel just steps away from the heart of Washington, DC's lobbying hub, over the weekend.
According to Republican Party officials, Haley carried nearly 63 per cent of the vote, Politico reported.
Nikki Haley's win in the Washington, DC Republican primary came after Trump defeated her in caucuses in Missouri and Idaho and at a Republican convention in Michigan on Saturday. Trump is moving towards the GOP nomination and is favoured to secure wins in primaries across 16 Super Tuesday states this week.
Meanwhile, President Biden and former President Donald J Trump emerged from Super Tuesday having amassed huge delegate hauls in California, Texas, and beyond, moving closer to their parties' nominations and setting up a rematch for the White House in November.