Nikki Haley can't win the Republican primary with 40%. But she can expose some of Trump's weaknesses

Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Greer, S.C.

David Yeazell / David Yeazell

Donald Trump’s campaign has vowed not to talk about her anymore. Many pundits have written her off entirely. But Nikki Haley is still campaigning across the country — and plenty of Republican voters are coming to hear what she has to say.

Before packed audiences in states that will vote on Super Tuesday next week, Haley is making the case she laid out after losing the primary in her home state of South Carolina: Roughly 40% of GOP voters support her over Trump, suggesting their party’s dominant figure is especially vulnerable in a November rematch against President Joe Biden.

“He lost 40% of the primary vote in all of the early states,” she told more than 500 people at a campaign event in the politically mixed suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, on Monday. “You can’t win the general election if you can’t win that 40%.”