Nikki Haley formally announced she is ending her presidential campaign. "I am filled with gratitude for the outpouring of support we've received from all across our great country. But 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. She warned Americans about the plethora of problems that lie ahead, saying, "the world is on fire." The former South Carolina governor emphasized some of the issues she ran on: the threat of national debt to the American economy, the need for small government and the importance of standing by Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. Talking about the crushing impact of national debt, Haley speaks about the need for "smaller federal government". "Our congress is dysfunctional and only getting worse, filled with followers not leaders. our world is on fire because of America's retreat," she told supporters. She went on to say "standing by our allies" is "a moral imperative... if we retreat further, there will be more war not less. We must bind together as Americans and turn away from division". Haley concluded her speech with a special mention of the "many women and girls who put their faith in our campaign". "In this campaign, I have seen our country's greatness — from the bottom of my heart, thank you America," she said. She opened her speech on Wednesday by saying: "Just over a year ago I launched my campaign for president, when I began, I said the campaign was grounded in my love for country. "Just last week, my mother, a first-generation immigrant, got to vote for her daughter for president. Only in America." Haley congratulated Trump during her announcement ending her presidential campaign but stopped short of endorsing 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." Haley reached the decision to suspend her presidential campaign late Tuesday, an adviser said, but did not share her plans outside of an extraordinarily tight circle of senior aides that guided her candidacy. Even as her team watched a victory in Vermont and a strong showing in the Virginia suburbs on Super Tuesday, "the benchmark for staying in the race was not reached," an adviser said. Going into the biggest day of voting, the adviser said, Haley's team had set a loose threshold of winning about 40% of the vote in several states to credibly stay in the race. As Haley suspended her campaign Wednesday morning, Trump posted on social media that the former South Carolina governor got "trounced" on Super Tuesday and invited her supporters to join his political movement. "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 would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation." President Joe Biden, meanwhile, made a clear appeal to Haley's supporters in the aftermath of her exit from the race, praising her "courage" in standing up to Trump. "Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign," Biden said in a statement moments after Haley suspended her campaign. Biden heralded Haley for her role in her party: "It takes a lot of courage to run for President – that's especially true in today's Republican Party, where so few dare to speak the truth about Donald Trump. "Nikki Haley was willing to speak the truth about Trump: about the chaos that always follows him, about his inability to see right from wrong, about his cowering before Vladimir Putin." The Biden campaign is setting out to earn the votes of moderate Republican voters turned off by Trump. Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said Wednesday there is a "home" for Haley voters with the Biden team in the moments before Haley ended her candidacy. Haley voters "agreed with Nikki Haley when she stood up to Trump for the chaos, the division, the extremism that he represents," Tyler told CNN's John Berman Wednesday morning. Haley voters, he added, "rejected MAGA extremism" in 2020 and 2022, and "are now rejecting Donald Trump and MAGA extremism moving forward." — CNN
