To use political jargon, Nikki Haley—who has lost primary contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and her home state of South Carolina—does not have a snow ball’s chance in hell of winning the GOP nomination for president. Still, she is apparently intent on not going down without a fight, and to that end, the former governor has a message for voters: Anyone who votes for Donald Trump has a death wish for America.
She’s not going to endorse until the ballots for the general are printed. She’s positioning herself as the only candidate who didn’t resign in case Trump is legally barred from running.
That is her entire strategy and even if everything unfolded how she wanted I doubt she’d actually be a front runner.
Showing up is half the job.
I say almost the same thing all the time about local government (especially the unpaid volunteer positions serving on boards and such): “decisions get made by the people who show up.”
There is also a >5% chance he will die in any given year, some people take less odds on the roulette wheel.
I’m going to say she’s go even further.
She may be further betting that even if Trump runs, he will lose. If the Republicans lose again, that may well mean they decide to finally throw Trump under the bus. Haley would be in a strong position if that came to pass, setting her up for a 2028 run, or at least a whole lot of “told you so” speaking engagements at significant profit.