South Carolina editorial board encourages GOP to clear the field for Haley to take on Trump

The editorial board for The Post and Courier in South Carolina is encouraging the GOP to clear the field for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to take on former President Trump, arguing a crowded field will lead to Trump’s reelection.

“Donald Trump won the GOP nomination in 2016 not because he was the choice of most Republican primary voters; he was not,” an editorial for The Post and Courier read Saturday. “He won because, in a crowded field, he got more votes than any of his rivals in South Carolina, and then in later-voting states.”

The op-ed argued Trump remains unpopular among independents and “a large chunk” of Republicans and attributed his leading poll numbers to the crowded field of candidates “drowning each other out.”

“The result, if the field remains crowded, is that Mr. Trump will again win the nomination,” the editorial read.

The editorial board went on to argue that a scenario in which Trump becomes the 2024 GOP presidential nominee is disastrous for voters across the political spectrum.

The piece said it would be a bad outcome for Republicans because Trump is “the least likely candidate to defeat President Joe Biden,” and for Democrats and independents “because there’s no guarantee that Mr. Biden would win a rematch.”

“Although Ms. Haley should never be confused with a moderate, she could easily be next year’s choice of independents and traditional Republicans,” the op-ed continued. “But that requires the other candidates getting out of the way.”

The editorial said it joins the calls of others such as former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, who endorsed Haley after dropping out of the Republican presidential primary earlier this month, and columnist George Will, who called for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to drop out and back Haley instead in a Washington Post op-ed.

“But as Mr. Will explained, and as Mr. Hurd and others who have been calling for an early winnowing have understood, a compressed start to the primary season means it will be nearly impossible for one candidate to consolidate the vote after the voting has started; that takes time and money and organization that a challenger needs to be putting into place right now,” the editorial board wrote. “Even starting now, the odds remain against victory for a serious, qualified Republican.”

Describing Haley — who also served as the former governor of South Carolina — as the one Republican who is “clearly ascending” in polls, fundraising and “willingness to challenge” Trump, the editorial said Haley’s foreign policy credentials “leaves the rest of this year’s GOP field in the dust.”

Haley has made foreign policy a central focus of her campaign, vowing to back Ukraine and Israel in their respective conflicts against Russia and Hamas, as well as fight the growing influence of China.

Haley, along with her GOP rivals, has struggled to make a dent in Trump’s considerable lead in the Republican presidential primary polls. A recent poll from Morning Consult shows Trump leading with 59 percent of the likely GOP vote, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has 14 percent support and Haley and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are tied for 6 percent.

However, another poll from Fox News shows Haley could stand a chance against President Biden. In a hypothetical match-up between Biden and Haley, she tops the incumbent by 4 points. In that same poll, Trump and Biden are shown to be a tight match-up, with Biden edging Trump out by just 1 point.

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign told The Hill the former president is “dominating the polls” and will go on to beat Biden “because he’s (Trump) the only person who can supercharge the economy, secure our border, safeguard communities, and put an end to unnecessary wars.”

Will, a longtime columnist at The Washington Post, is also a contributor for cable news channel NewsNation, an outlet that is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill. 

Updated at 6:22 p.m.