(NewsNation) — Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said as long as, “70% of Americans say they don’t want (President) Joe Biden or (former President) Donald Trump,” back in the White House, she’s staying in the race.
The former U.N. ambassador told NewsNation Political Editor Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday” that she’s faced calls to suspend her campaign since early on, but she’s committed to staying in the race.
“People want a new generational leader,” she said. “They don’t want to have to choose between two 80-year-olds for president. And they know we need to go in a new direction.”
Haley’s appearance on “The Hill Sunday” comes just ahead of Super Tuesday, in which 16 states will vote in presidential nominating contests. She’s trailing Trump in double digits but remains his only formidable candidate.
Still, Haley believes she can paint herself as a competitive contrast to Trump by pointing to recent Republican losses at the state level.
“Since Trump took office, (Michigan) lost the governorship, they lost the State House, they lost the state Senate,” Haley said.
While sharpening her attack on Trump, she brushed Biden aside, believing he may not be the Democratic nominee for president come November.
“I have said from the beginning, the party that gets rid of their 80-year-old candidate is the party that’s going to win,” she said. “I don’t think Joe Biden is going to be the candidate. I think that there’s a possibility we have President Kamala Harris or we have someone else.”
In The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling average of a hypothetical election between Haley and Biden, the former South Carolina governor has a slight lead of nearly 4 percentage points.
Virginia’s suburban voters might be Haley’s best chance at the race’s narrative.
A Roanoke College poll released Friday showed Haley trouncing President Biden, 49% to 40%, in a hypothetical general election match-up. However, the same poll showed Trump with a massive lead over Haley among Republicans in the state; 75% of self-reported Republicans said they backed Trump, while 15% said the same about Haley.
NewsNation affiliate The Hill contributed to this report.
