Nikki Haley’s Campaign Charges Nevada Republican Presidential Caucuses Are “Rigged” for Trump
Opening Statements
Nikki Haley’s Republican presidential campaign says this week’s dual GOP contests in Nevada aren’t on its radar.
“In terms of Nevada, we have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada,” campaign manager Betsy Ankney told reporters on Monday. “So Nevada is not and has never been our focus.”
Rigged Caucuses?
And Ankney charges that Thursday’s caucuses run by the Nevada GOP are “rigged” for former President Donald Trump, whom Haley is challenging for the Republican nomination. Trump, who is the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, is the only major candidate running in the caucus. And Haley, the former South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration, is the sole remaining candidate listed on the state’s Republican primary ballot.
Haley’s Focus on Fundraising
While Trump’s assured of winning all 26 delegates at stake, sources say he and his campaign advisers have some concerns. An unpleasant potential scenario for Trump, who won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary by double-digits, could be Haley grabbing more votes in the primary than Trump lands in the caucus.
Haley and some of the other now-departed Republican presidential candidates viewed the Nevada GOP as too loyal to Trump and decided to skip a caucus they believed was tipped in favor of the former president.
Haley heads to California on Wednesday, where she’s scheduled to headline her first rally in any of the 15 states that hold nominating contests on Super Tuesday in early March.
Haley’s Impressive Fundraising Numbers
Haley’s team says they hauled in a massive $16.5 million in fundraising last month across all of their campaign committees, including $11.7 million from small-dollar grassroots supporters. Haley has seen her fundraising continue to increase since launching her presidential campaign a year ago, with her campaign adding nearly 70,000 donors last month. According to Haley’s campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas, “Hundreds of thousands of Americans are supporting Nikki’s campaign because they don’t want two grumpy old men and all their chaos, confusion and grievances. They want a strong, conservative leader who will save this country.”
Potential Roaming for the Readers
Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who is supporting Trump, told the Nevada Independent last month that he would vote for “none of the above” in Tuesday’s primary and would caucus for Trump in the state GOP’s contest on Thursday. Trump is expected back in Las Vegas on Thursday for a caucus celebration.
Trump’s campaign has been working to get the message out to supporters in Nevada that if they want to vote for the former president, they need to show up at the caucuses.
