Nikki Haley on DeSantis Dropping Out: ‘May the Best Woman Win’

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during a town hall, Monday, Dec. 18,
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Hannah Knudsen

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) had a cheeky reaction to the news of her challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), suspending his presidential campaign, telling a cluster of supporters, “May the best woman win.”

“We just heard the Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the race,” Haley said while addressing supporters, who clapped and cheered.

“He ran a great race. He’s been a good governor, and we wish him well,” Haley continued, emphasizing that the race is “now one fella and one lady,” emphasizing that all the other men in the race have dropped out. She went on to say:

And this comes down to what do you want? Do you want more of the same, or do you want something new? Do you want to go back to a country where they decide who’s a good person, who’s a bad person, who’s the right person, who’s the wrong person? Or do you want to come together as Americans and say, “You know what? We’re gonna get inflation down and get our economy back on track. We’re gonna get our kids reading again and go back to the basics in education. We’re going to secure our border once and for all,'” she said.

Haley added that her goal is a “strong America that we can all be proud of.”

“We’ve got two days until New Hampshire goes to the polls. And we’re going to make sure that we fight all the way until the last second. And what the people in New Hampshire should know is when we win the presidency in this country, I will do everything I can to prove to you that you made the right decision,” Haley said before dropping a cheeky, Hillary-esque remark.

“But for now, I’ll leave you with this: May the best woman win,” she said as her supporters cheered:

Her reaction came shortly after DeSantis formally dropped out of the race, announcing that it is “clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.”

DeSantis said:

While I’ve had disagreements with Donald Trump, such as on the coronavirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci, Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden. That is clear. I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge. He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican Guard of yesteryear — a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents,” he said, battering Haley on his way out of the race.

WATCH: Ron DeSantis Drops Out of GOP Primary, Endorses Trump

Ron DeSantis / Twitter

Nikki Haley released the following statement in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sunday: “Ron DeSantis has been a good governor, and I wish him well. So far, only one state has voted. Half of its votes went to Donald Trump, and half did not. We’re not a country of coronations. Voters deserve a say in whether we go down the road of Trump and Biden again, or we go down a new conservative road. New Hampshire voters will have their say on Tuesday. When I’m president, I will do everything in my power to show them they made the right decision.”

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