The Supreme Court ruled today that Donald Trump could stay
on the ballot.
And no, I think, I think that was important.
We don't ever want some elected official in a state
or anybody else saying who can and can't be on
a ballot.
This is America. This is America.
Look, I'll defeat Donald Trump fair and square,
but I want him on that ballot.
That was Nikki Haley in Texas yesterday,
weighing in on the Supreme Court ruling that Donald Trump
can stay on
Colorado's primary ballot. Joining us now,
national political reporter for the Washington Post,
Hannah Knowles. Hannah, good to see you this morning.
So you've got a new piece that has the headline
Trump poised to dominate Super Tuesday as Haley makes her
last stand.
So let's start there with Haley.
She has
throughout this process vowed to stay in through Super Tuesday.
Super Tuesday has arrived. She's not expected to win many,
if any, contest today. So that's the case.
What happens to her next?
That is the question. I think there are a lot
of people who think,
you know, maybe she could drop out pretty soon after
this,
but she hasn't announced anything.
So what are her sources?
What are her advisors saying in terms of,
you know, it's a truism,
right, that these campaigns, they don't,
they stay afloat as long as they have the money
to do so.
We know some of her big donors have backed away,
but does she have enough cash to keep going for
a while were she to choose to?
That is the interesting thing,
right? I mean, she a number of people have made
that point.
Usually the campaign would run out of money at this
point.
And and Nikki Haley still has donors who,
you know, they want to see her fight and they
want to see her sort of carry the banner for
that old guard like Reagan wing of the party that's
still around despite the Trump
takeover. But I just, I can't imagine what
she would gain from going further at this point.
What would be the rationale if she were to go
forward right that you know that we know that Trump's
criminal trial,
the one in New York,
starts in now under 3 weeks,
is the idea of that you could just stay around
just in case something were to happen there or some
other sort of unexpected event that could derail Trump.
There is a case for,
you know, stick around and collect delegates
as long as you can to be sort of that
person who could swoop in if something happens.
But that's also looking less and less likely,
right? Because we're seeing that we might not have,
you know, a lot of these trials could get delayed
until after the election.
And so it's looking less likely that Trump could have
that moment of legal derailment.
So Hannah, you've been writing about how Haley,
though she's only won the one contest,
the one in Washington, DC,
she's put up pretty good numbers.
And others, she's pulled in a significant percentage of the
vote in some contests.
I'm thinking Iowa. I'm thinking New Hampshire.
I'm thinking particularly South Carolina.
Talk to us, if you will,
about the implications for what that could mean for Republicans
and namely Donald Trump's success in November.
Yeah, So she'll point out that her best showing so
far was in New Hampshire.
She got 43%. And that's not,
you know, a tiny minority,
is what she says, said.
She says that this is a sign that Donald Trump
has work to do if he wants to win over
that part of the party and particularly independence and college
educated voters. But at the same time,
it actually looks like the Republican coalition is more united
right now behind Trump than the Democratic coalition is behind
Biden.
And so, you know, even though Biden is cruising in
the primary,
he kind of in some ways has more to be
nervous about right now.
So talk to us a little bit more about Trump.
Some of the vulnerabilities that Republicans,
those those who support Haley and those that don't see
as potential liabilities for the former president in November.
Well, they would point to the the 91 felony charges
against him.
They would point to just what he says
every day. I mean this is not someone who is
has the posture of I am trying to unite the
big tent Republican Party.
I mean every day he says stuff that alienates a
certain group.
Yeah, we just discussed with our last guest,
Susan Del Percio about how
he says he doesn't want the Mitt Romney or his
supporters.
Well, those are exactly the kind of votes you need
and what will be a tight,
tight election. National political reporter for the Washington Post handles.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning on
this Super Tuesday.
And of course, we'll have complete coverage all day long
and tonight of the election results,
an important moment here in the
2024 campaign.