Former President Donald Trump is leading presidential hopeful Nikki Haley by more than 60 points nationwide in the Republican primary race, the latest Morning Consult survey found.
The survey, released ahead of South Carolina’s primary, found Trump leading with a massive majority — 81 percent — supporting him in the GOP race. Haley falls 63 points behind, garnering just 18 percent support. Another two percent said someone else. Morning Consult observes that Trump’s overwhelming lead is “just shy of a record 66-point lead reached last week as Trump’s sole remaining challenger fails to gain traction nationwide.”
Further, the survey shows most GOP likely voters, 80 percent, view Trump favorably, while just 43 percent view Haley favorably.
The overall survey was taken February 17-19, 2024, among 3,854 potential GOP primary voters.
The results come as Haley continues to make it clear that she intends to stay in the race — despite her subpar polling numbers — beyond South Carolina.
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Speaking to a crowd in Greenville, South Carolina, on Tuesday — days ahead of the state’s primary — Haley claimed that it is the “political elite” rather than the American people who want her to drop out of the race.
“Some of you, perhaps a few of you in the media, came here today to see if I’m dropping out of the race,” Haley said, adding, “Well, I’m not.”
“Far from it, and I’m here to tell you why I’m running for president: Because we have a country to save,” she said, explaining that “South Carolina will vote on Saturday, but on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president.”
Haley also compared herself to the Biblical great David during her speech, telling the crowd, “Dropping out would be the easy route. I’ve never taken the easy route. I’ve been the underdog in every race…I’ve always been David taking on Goliath.”
“And like David, I’m not just fighting someone bigger than me. I’m fighting for something bigger than myself,” she added.
Her former competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, weighed in on the state of the race and remarked that it is bizarre that Haley is openly depending on non-conservative voters to support her in upcoming states with open primaries.
RELATED — Ron DeSantis Drops Out of GOP Primary, Endorses Trump
Ron DeSantis / Twitter“To try to appeal to people who aren’t a part of that base for a primary — I just didn’t understand that,” the governor said.
“It was clear to me after…Iowa that she just didn’t have support amongst Republicans, and I’ve never seen anyone win a Republican nomination by focusing on non-Republican voters. It just doesn’t work,” he continued, predicting Saturday’s results.
“There’s no question that South Carolina is going to be a big victory for Donald Trump because he appeals to core Republicans in a way that Nikki Haley just does not or is not trying to,” he said.
