Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's refusal to end her bid for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination has gotten under Donald Trump's skin as it forces him to spend more time on the campaign trail as he battles his myriad legal problems.
According to a report from the Guardian's David Smith, the former president is "consumed with rage" at Haley because her refusal to drop out is keeping his campaign from making a "pivot" to taking on President Joe Biden and instead finds itself having to fend off her increasing attacks.
As Smith explained Trump's fury, " ... offers a reminder of the unhinged behaviour that turned off independent voters in New Hampshire and could prove to be a liability in a head-to-head contest with Biden. It is also at odds with what is an unusually professional and disciplined campaign operation."
According to Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller, "Donald Trump wants the race to be over and we see evidence of why that’s important for the Trump campaign from his speech, which was essentially a train wreck and exhibited all the worst tendencies of Donald Trump. It was an undisciplined Trump and this is what turns off independent voters.”
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Schiller called Haley's refusal and Trump's public anger about it, "The Achilles heel for the Trump campaign and they know it."
"The sooner this gets wrapped up then he doesn’t have any more of those impromptu late night speeches. Their worry is not that they’re not going to win the nomination; their worry is the damage that Trump having to respond to Haley will do in the general election with independent voters," she explained.
As the Guardian's Smith notes, Trump's fury at Haley is over-the-top considering how little threat she poses to getting the nomination and his inability to set it aside makes him his own worst enemy.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) agrees, explaining, "Trump’s best strategy is to assume he is the nominee and go straight at Biden and ignore Haley, let her flounder around until she either runs out of money or realizes that there is no future. She’ll presently disappear.”
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