U.S.
Republican
presidential
candidate
and
former
U.S.
Ambassador
to
the
United
Nations
Nikki
Haley
speaks
at
a
campaign
stop
in
Elgin,
South
Carolina,
U.S.,
February
12,
2024.
Julia
Nikhinson
|
Reuters
As
Nikki
Haley
falls
behind
Donald
Trump in
the
Republican
presidential
primary,
something
strange
is
happening:
Many
of
her
donors
are
sticking
with
her.
Sure,
some
big
money
has
given
up
on
the
former
South
Carolina
governor,
who
refuses
to
drop
out
despite
losing
every
contest
so
far
and
falling
20
points
shy
of
winning
her
own
state
last
week.
But
other
Haley
donors
say
that
giving
to
her campaign has
become
about
more
than
just
backing
a
Republican
with
the
best
shot
at
winning:
They
see
their
donations
as
a
way
to
protest
Trump’s
takeover
of
their
party.
“It’s
not
that
I
think
she
has
a
decent
chance
of
winning,
but
I
think
she’s
the
most
effective
counterforce
to Trump’s
talking
points,”
said
one
of
those
donors,
who
gave
a
six-figure
contribution
to
SFA
Fund,
Inc.,
a
pro-Haley
political
action committee.
“Even
if
she
doesn’t
win,
I
feel
right
in
doing
this,”
said
the
donor,
who
was
granted
anonymity
to
speak
freely.
A
top
Haley
fundraiser
told
CNBC
that
donors
keep
supporting
Haley
because
she
represents
the
“Reagan
wing”
of
the
GOP
—
a
group
that
has
been
all
but
abandoned
by
the
GOP
since
Trump
first
became
president
in
2016.
That
Reagan
wing,
which
stands
in
contrast
to
the
isolationist
foreign
policy
and
protectionist
economics
that
define
Trump’s
brand
of
populism,
“isn’t
going
away,”
the
fundraiser
said.
“Her
candidacy
says,
‘We
exist,
too.'”
The
same
fundraiser
likened
Haley’s
current
chances
to
those
of
the
New
York
Jets,
a
football
team
that
hasn’t
made
the
playoffs
in
over
a
decade.
“They
never
make
the
playoffs,
but
you
still
have
a
chance.”
The
Jets
are
owned
by
Woody
Johnson,
a
longtime
ally
of
Trump.
Paul
Levy,
a
founder
of
private
equity
firm
JLL
Partners
and
a
Haley
donor,
said
he
and
other
donors
like
him
believe
she
represents
the
Reagan
wing
of
the
GOP.
“I
think
there’s
a
lot
to
that,”
Levy
said.
He
said
he
sided
with
Haley
on
arming
Ukraine,
a
key
point
of
divergence
between
more
traditional
conservatives
and
many
of
Trump’s
most
vocal
supporters.
His
support
for
Haley
is
less
about
her
being
able
to
beat
Trump
with
delegates,
he
said,
and
more
about
her
policies,
her
experience,
and
how
she
could
be
a
favorite
for
the
GOP
nomination
if
Trump
dropped
out.
“I
think
it’s
more
of
the
latter
than
the
former,
because
clearly
the
delegate
count
isn’t
going
well
right
now,”
Levy
said.
Facing
four
criminal
cases
and
at
least
two
likely
trials
this
year,
Trump
is
in
an
unprecedented
and
delicate
situation
as
a
candidate
for
the
nation’s
highest
office.
Presiding
Judge
Lewis
Kaplan
postpones
the
trial
because
one
juror
and
a
parent
of
one
of
Trump’s
lawyers
became
ill
during
the
second
civil
trial
where
E.
Jean
Carroll
accused
former
U.S.
Presiden
Donald
Trump
of
raping
her
decades
ago,
at
Manhattan
Federal
Court
in
New
York
City,
U.S.,
January
22,
2024
in
this
courtroom
sketch.
Jane
Rosenberg
|
Reuters
Levy
donated
$100,000
to
SFA
Fund
in
January,
according
to
Federal
Election
Commission
records.
He
told
CNBC
he
gave
more
money
to
the
PAC
prior
to
the
South
Carolina
primary,
but
would
not
say
how
much
or
when
the
donation
took
place.
This
ongoing
support
for
Haley’s campaign,
including
$1
million
raised
the
night
she
lost
her
home
state
to Trump,
suggests
that
Trump
may
have
a
more
difficult
time
uniting
the
Republican
party
around
him than
he
and
his
allies
envision.
“I’ve
never
seen
the
Republican
Party
so
unified
as
it
is
right
now,”
Trump
said
in
a
speech
after
his
South
Carolina
win.
The
numbers,
however,
told
a
different
story.
Haley
won
40%
of
the
primary
vote
to
Trump’s
60%
on
Saturday,
a
decisive
loss
for
Haley
but
not
the
kind
of
party
unity
that
Trump
projects.
Like
Haley’s
donors,
her
campaign
sees
a
race
that
is
about
more
than
just
who
wins.
“Nikki
is
fighting
to
make
America
normal
again.
She’s
reminding
voters
who
we
are
as
Americans
so
that
we
can
move
forward
as
a
united
country
and
party,”
said
Olivia
Perez-Cubas,
a
spokeswoman
for
Haley.
“She’s
running
so
our
kids
and
grandkids
inherit
a
strong
and
proud
America,
and
her
message
is
resonating
with
millions
of
voters.”
Some
donors,
however,
are
clearly
having
second
thoughts
about
Haley.
The
most
public
of
these
is
Americans
for
Prosperity
Action,
the
Koch
network’s
political
arm,
which
revealed
Sunday
that
it
would
no
longer
fund
Haley’s
presidential
bid.
And
one
donor,
who
gave
SFA
a
six-figure
contribution
ahead
of
the
New
Hampshire
primary,
told
CNBC
on
Monday
that
they
will
hold
off
on
spending
any
more.
“I
think
we
would
need
a
change
before
we
would
do
anything
meaningful,”
the
donor
said,
envisioning
a
possible
medical
or
legal
issue
befalling
Trump,
which
would
make
Haley
“more
viable.”
The
donor
explained
that
their
decision
to
back
Haley
was
motivated
chiefly
by
opposition
to
Trump,
but
that
so
far
they
felt
like
their
money
had
done
little
to
impact
the
race.
“I
don’t
know,
at
this
point,
that
it
does
much,”
they
said.
If
the
general
election
in
November
is
between
Trump
and
Democratic
President
Joe
Biden,
they
said,
“I
don’t
think
I’ll
vote.”
