A group of conservatives led by former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore have publicly called on former ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to drop her presidential bid.
In a statement released Saturday, Gilmore, who then-President Donald Trump named as U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said: “It is time to unite the Republican Party, so we can begin the difficult, yet necessary task of uniting the country. Prolonged disunity helps no one, hurts everyone, and weakens our standing in the world. Americans deserve better.”
He was the top signatory to a letter also signed by 11 other conservative figures, including Conservative Leadership PAC chairman Morton Blackwell, Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell, former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese, American Spectator publisher Emmett Tyrell and ConservativeHQ.com chairman Richard Viguerie.
In the letter, they suggested that Haley will damage her future presidential prospects if she continues her bid:
While you have waged a spirited campaign for the 2024 Republican Party nomination, it is clear you cannot win the GOP nomination.
We applaud your efforts, but your candidacy is over.
Thus, for the sake of party unity, we call on you to get out of the race now.
In 1964, then-governor Nelson Rockefeller stayed in the race against Sen. Barry Goldwater too long, even when it was apparent he had lost the nomination. As a result, Rockefeller ended up hated by the rank and file of the GOP. Do you really want to become the Nelson Rockefeller of the 21st century?
Your continued criticism of the almost certain nominee is reducing the likelihood of the Republican candidate in November.
Please withdraw from the race now, endorse Donald Trump, and another year will beckon.
This action by you would the better part of valor.
Haley has said she intends to stay in the race at least through the Super Tuesday slate of primaries on March 5, which includes Virginia, where early voting is already open. Politico reported Saturday that Haley is “stepping up her attacks on Donald Trump’s age.” On Friday, Haley, 52, said that both President Joe Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, would be using the White House as a “taxpayer-subsidized nursing home” and that Trump suffers from “mental deficiencies.” Haley has criticized the age of both candidates before but is stepping up that line of attack after a special counsel investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents declined to press charges, saying he’s a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”