Haley responds to DeSantis' departure from race: 'May the best woman win'

Nikki Haley entered a seafood restaurant in Seabrook, NH on Sunday afternoon with some news for the crowd: Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, was no longer running for president.

“We just heard that Ron DeSantis has withdrawn from the race,” Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, said to cheers from the dozens in attendance. And I want to say to Ron, he's run a great race, he's been a good governor and we wish him the best.”

“That said, there's now one guy and one lady left,” she continued, holding up two fingers to even more cheers. She added: “For now I leave you with this: May the best woman win.”

Ms. Haley and her allies have long sought to frame the presidential race as between herself and former President Donald J. Trump, even as she finished third in the Iowa caucuses. With Mr. DeSantis out of the race, that argument became much more salient — even though recent polling averages put her 15 percentage points behind Mr. Trump in New Hampshire.

She continued that argument in a statement from her campaign, noting that “only one state voted” and that “half of its votes went to Donald Trump, and the other half did not.” (Mr. Trump received 51 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses.)

“Voters deserve a say in whether we go down the path of Trump and Biden again, or take a new conservative path,” Ms. Haley said in the statement. “New Hampshire voters will have their say on Tuesday.”

Ms. Haley also pledged to stay in the race through the South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday on March 5, regardless of what happens in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.

Instead of making comments in Seabrook, as she has done at recent shopping stops, Ms. Haley went straight to taking selfies and speaking one-on-one with supporters — a small victory lap of sorts.

Speaking to CNN's Dana Bash after the event, Ms Haley escalated her attacks on Mr Trump, whom she has hit harder in recent days, and on President Biden. She said they were “equally bad” for the country.

“If either was right, I wouldn't run,” she added.

Ms. Haley told CNN that Mr. DeSantis, who supported Mr. Trump in his announcement that he was withdrawing from the race, had not called to inform her of his departure.

She also said that Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina had not told her earlier this week that he would be supporting Mr. Trump — although Mr. Scott told CNN that he had texted her the day before he endorsed Mr. Trump. “He didn't tell me he was going to do this,” Ms. Haley said.