MAJOR LOSS: Koch PAC abandons funding for Nikki Haley after SC loss
It was a major blow to Donald Trump when, in November, Americans for Prosperity, backed by Charles Koch’s conservative network, threw its support behind Nikki Haley. Now, they’re backing away from the second-place Republican, but (so far) she’s not backing down.
Haley’s campaign has been a mixed bag of calling out Trump’s worst behaviors, and getting caught up in her own political errors, including hesitating to acknowledge slavery as the cause of the civil war, and expressing support (later walked back) for the ideology behind a ruling that is removing access to fertility treatments for citizens of Alabama.
In primary elections, she’s narrowed Trump’s wins significantly, but never made a showing that suggests she can take the nomination, barring some significant and unpredictable development. Now Americans for Prosperity is turning their attention not to Trump, but to Congress, and has released a statement explaining. NPR reports:
“But given the challenges in the primary states ahead, we don’t believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory,” the statement read. “And so while we will continue to endorse her, we will focus our resources where we can make the difference. And that’s the U.S. Senate and House.”
Haley says she’s not bowing out yet. After the South Carolina primary, she dropped a statement saying that as an accountant, she recognizes that 40% of the vote (she received 42.3% in New Hambpshire and 39.5% in South Carolina) is not a majority, but that it’s still a lot of voters who do not want Trump, and she plans to keep campaigning to give voters in upcoming primaries in other states a real choice.
Trump, who lashed out at the conservative organization when it first moved to support Haley’s bid, is no happier now that Koch has moved on to other matters. He posted on his social site:
“AMERICAN’S [sic] FOR NO PROSPERITY HAVE JUST STATED THAT HALEY HAS NO CHANCE TO WIN, AND THEY WILL STOP FUNDING HER CAMPAIGN, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY!”
Meanwhile, Haley is calling for the public to recognize Trump as a drain on the party, not only soaking up funding (and using it for his legal fees) that might otherwise have gone to candidates campaigning for office, but also helping candidates lose elections.
In Michigan, where primaries are scheduled for Tuesday, she warned voters that Trump and the election denial his supporters promote is costing the party. Detroit News reported:
“You can’t have a playpen where you use campaign contributions to pay your personal court cases. You can’t have a playpen where you go and you criticize your opponents’ supporters…That’s not the way you win a presidential election,” she said. “It’s not the way we win elections up and down the ticket.”
Despite the truth of what Haley is saying, the MAGA electorate continues to stand behind Trump, no matter how poor his chances of winning in a general election will be and the Republican establishment doesn’t seem to have the fortitude to try to stop what they’ve come to see as inevitable.
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