Haley has long made her distaste for Trump clear, including a shot at the Republican front-runner in the State of the Union response she delivered for the GOP this year. He leads by double digits in opinion polls, and surveys show many of his supporters object to Ms Haley’s removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds.
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But a new Public Policy Polling poll of likely South Carolina Republican primary voters in the two days after the debate shows that not to be the case, as Trump is still leading his opponents by 17 points.
I suspect that Haley would have endorsed Rubio earlier, but for his debate performance, and subsequent poor result, in New Hampshire.
“During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices”, Haley said during that speech. “She’s a great person, I’m disappointed she didn’t endorse me”.
But Bush’s aides hoped to spark a comeback for their boss by bringing in the former president, who remains incredibly popular here seven years after leaving office – particularly with veterans and members of the military, who make up a significant part of the state’s Republican electorate.
“I’ve been trying to do this for like three months”, Bush said. Some of the advice was conflicting. “We can not trust Donald Trump with these serious decisions”, the ad says. “I see it lacking in Mr. Trump”, says Adams.
“Like a freight train barrelling through signals with his horn on full blast, Trump heads down the track towards a possible nomination”, said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. Ted Cruz of Texas and his one-time protege, U.S. Sen.
As they stepped triumphantly off Rubio’s luxury campaign bus to address a chilly outdoor rally, Haley and Rubio, both 44 and the children of immigrants, presented a diverse and youthful tableau for the Republican Party. Trump now says he opposes abortion.
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On Tuesday, Trump repeatedly called Cruz a liar while speaking to the media and campaigning on the trail. Trump has taken issue with Cruz’s statements about Trump’s supposed support for Obamacare and taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. The billionaire developer contends Cruz, who was born in Calgary, Canada, to an American mother and a Cuban father, is ineligible to serve as president because he wasn’t born on US soil. “You have been threatening frivolous lawsuits for your entire adult life”, Cruz said of Trump.
