Haley immediately turned her attention to her home state following the New Hampshire primary last month and has regularly visited for weeks, but she still trails the front-runner by a significant margin. 

Trump led Haley in a Winthrop University poll released Wednesday of likely South Carolina primary voters by 36 points, 64.9 percent to 28.7 percent. The poll found a significant drop in Haley’s favorability rating in the Palmetto State as she has emerged as the last major candidate opposing Trump for the nomination. 

Pollsters found that Haley’s favorability rating among Republicans stood at 56 percent, down from above 70 percent in November, while the percentage viewing her unfavorably rose in that time from 16 percent to 33 percent. 

The poll’s results are largely in line with other surveys of the critical race ahead of the primary next Saturday. Trump leads Haley by almost 35 points in the state in the average from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polls. 

Trump, who has largely turned his attention to a general election matchup against President Biden already, held a rally in North Charleston on Wednesday, just 10 days before the primary. The event included
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a former GOP presidential candidate who has endorsed Trump. 

Scott has also been rumored as a possible choice for Trump’s running mate as he has become a major surrogate for the campaign. 

Haley, while serving as governor of South Carolina, appointed Scott to his Senate seat. Her campaign posted a mobile billboard outside the Wednesday rally criticizing Trump’s comments on veterans and soldiers.

Republicans in Michigan voted last month to oust Kristina Karamo as head of the state party after a controversial tenure rife with discord and debt — but she’s since insisted that she’s still in control, throwing the Great Lakes State’s GOP into internal turmoil.  

After weeks of the power struggle, the Republican National Committee (RNC) officially weighed in
to affirm that Karamo was removed from her role — and to recognize former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) as the new party chair.  

Trump endorsed Karamo in her midterm bid for secretary of state in Michigan, but backed Hoekstra to rise to the chair position amid the dispute.  

“Both the RNC and our Party’s presumptive nominee Donald Trump, have now come forward and recognized me as the duly elected Chair of the Michigan Republican Party,” Hoekstra said in a post on X. 

He said “it’s time” for Karamo to “join the fight to re-elect Donald Trump,” pointedly calling her “the former Chair.”  

But Karamo is digging her heels in.  

“The Michigan Republican Party will continue to move forward under the leadership of the Karamo administration, and Kristina Karamo will continue serving as the duly elected Chairwoman,” the state party told The Hill in a statement.   

On Feb. 27, Michigan will host its presidential primaries as Republicans seek to win the battleground state in November — but the chaos within the state party has raised questions about whether they’ll be ready to be competitive in key 2024 races.