Haley suspends campaign, doesn't endorse Trump

Nikki Haley on Wednesday suspended her Republican presidential campaign, and while she wished Trump well, she declined to endorse him for president.

"I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have no regrets, and although I will not be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in," she said during a speech Wednesday in South Carolina, the state where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017.

She congratulated Trump for likely becoming the GOP nominee after the party convention in July. "I wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America's president. Our country is too precious to let our differences define us," she said.

Haley did not go as far as directly endorsing Trump, however.

"I have always been a conservative Republican and I have always supported the Republican nominee, but ... 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," she also said.

Her decision sets up a 2020 rematch between President Joe Biden and Trump this fall.

At the start of her speech, Trump posted on Truth Social: "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."

Haley, former United Nations ambassador under Trump, had only secured the GOP nomination in the Washington, D.C., and Vermont primaries, while all other states voted for Trump.

"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," Trump also wrote. "BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY."

News about Haley's announcement first emerged early Wednesday morning following underwhelming results in Super Tuesday.

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