‘The Surprise of the Night!’ Fox News Anchor Marvels at Nikki Haley Taking 150,000+ Votes Away from Trump in Pennsylvania Even After Dropping Out
Fox News’ Dana Perino deemed former candidate Nikki Haley’s performance in the Pennsylvania Republican presidential primary the “surprise” of Tuesday night on America’s Newsroom Wednesday.
Haley may have dropped out of the race in early March, but she still put up surprisingly strong numbers in the key, battleground state on Tuesday, earning the support of more than 155,000 voters and 16.5% of the electorate. Former president and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump easily prevailed, but the share of voters casting protest ballots for Haley was still notable to observers, including Perino.
” Donald Trump and President Biden clinching their respective primaries in a key battleground state. Biden took more than 90% of the Democratic vote in Pennsylvania’s closed primary, but the surprise of the night came from the GOP race,” she observed. “There were still more than 100,000 voters casting their ballots for former candidate Nikki Haley. Now, you might remember she suspended her campaign last month after ballots had been printed.”
Haley’s relatively strong performance from beyond her candidacy’s grave could spell trouble for Trump, who must consolidate the Republican Party around him if he’s to beat Biden November’s anticipated rematch between them.
In her speech announcing her withdrawal from the race, Haley declined to endorse Trump, instead signaling that it was up to him to earn her supporters’ votes.
“I have always been a conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee but on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, quote, ‘Never just follow the crowd, always make up your own mind.’ It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” said Haley at the time. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.”
Watch above via Fox News.
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