Vivek Calls on Nikki Haley to Drop Out After New Hampshire Defeat

Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out after the Iowa caucuses to endorse Donald Trump for President, thinks the Republican primary race is effectively “over.”

Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley in the Granite State primary, despite a reported 70% of Haley’s supporters being non-Republicans, including Independents and Democrats who crossed over to vote for Haley.

Vivek explained why he thinks the New Hampshire results “bode well” for Trump in the general election and called on Nikki Haley to drop out of the race.

“I’m right here at the party, the after party right here,” Vivek said in Nashua, New Hampshire via remote interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters. “And look, I think this is a decisive win for Donald Trump. That’s what we’re seeing tonight.”

“I think there’s actually an interesting view of this, which is, it’s like a terrain for the general election,” he added. “You have more independents than Democrats, it looks like, voting in this GOP primary than registered Republicans themselves.”

“And many of the largest donors to the Democratic Party have been the largest donors to Nikki Haley, who’s Donald Trump’s opponent here,” he continued. “So I think this is a prediction of what you’re going to see in the general election and the decisive margin we see tonight is in some ways, I think something that bodes well for Trump heading into the general election in November to reunite this country.”

“And so in my view, the general election really begins tonight. I think the Republican primary, for all intents and purposes, is over tonight. And I think the party and the country are better off if we see that for what it is,” he said.

Jesse Watters then asked Vivek Ramaswamy if Nikki Haley should suspend her campaign.

“Look, I do think that would be the right thing for the country unambiguously,” he said.

“And also just to call a spade a spade, Jesse, as you know, I’ve not been unafraid to do that in this campaign.

“If Nikki Haley does stay in, it will send the signal that her only path, and what she’s playing for, is for Donald Trump being eliminated by forces outside of this process, by the judicial system, by Secretaries of State and places like Maine or elsewhere.

“And I think that’s downright wrong. I think it’s wrong for the Republican party. I think it’s wrong for this country.”

“There is no viable path for her to defeat him through the front door,” he went on.

“And so what we’re really just seeing is the very people like Reid Hoffman who are paying for the lawsuits against Donald Trump now becoming the largest donors, or among the largest donors to Nikki Haley, it becomes obvious that the thing they’re playing for is Trump to be eliminated by what I view as illegitimate means.”

“And I think that is bad for this party, bad for this country,” he went on.

“That’s what that will mean. And so for that reason, I do think the right decision for Nikki Haley to make for the country and for the Republican party tonight, or very soon after tonight, is to make this a one person nomination for the Republican nomination and then head to a general election where we can focus, I think, Jesse, this year, on delivering a 1980 style moral mandate, a Reagan style landslide.”

“When you have the likes of John Fetterman even recently talking about the importance of the southern border that says that many Democrats and independents and Libertarians agree with the views of this America First movement,” he added. “That’s why I took myself out of the race to endorse Donald Trump.

“I think the other Republicans have done the right thing. It’s time for Nikki Haley to do the right thing as well and focus on a landslide this November. That dare I say, will reunite this country.”

The results from the New Hampshire Primary show that 70% of Nikki Haley’s voters were not registered Republicans.

CNN’s exit polls show that 70% of Nikki Haley voters are NOT registered Republicans. pic.twitter.com/TCq5TH2CAL

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 24, 2024

Nikki Haley isn’t letting a little thing like defeat to Donald Trump in early primary state of New Hampshire stop her from running for the GOP presidential nomination.

“Now you’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying, this race is over,” Haley said.

“It’s not,” she added. “Well, I have news for all of them. New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not the last in the nation.”

“This race is far from over,” she continued. “There are dozens of states left to go, and the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina.”

After finishing third in the Iowa caucuses behind Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who subsequently backed Trump in the Republican race, Nikki Haley is apparently unfazed and believes “the best is yet to come.”