(NewsNation) — Days ahead of the GOP primary in South Carolina, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she’s staying in the race, despite her opponent Donald Trump’s substantial polling lead in the state.
“Some of you, perhaps a few of you in the media, came here today to see if I’m dropping out of the race. Well, I’m not. Far from it,” the former South Carolina governor said during a speech Tuesday in Greenville. “I’m running for president because we have a country to save.”
Haley, who also served as United Nations ambassador in Trump’s administration, said calls for her to drop out have come from the “political elite.”
“I’m not afraid to say the hard truths out loud. I feel no need to kiss the ring,” she said. “I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him. My own political future is of zero concern.”
Still, even in Haley’s home state, she’s trailing Trump by double digits — as much as 30 points, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ averages.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, feels pretty confident — they just pushed out a memo pressuring her to drop out. Trump campaign sources tell NewsNation that Haley does not have the delegate math to stay in the race.
Haley’s campaign, though, released a new ad Monday in South Carolina, part of a $6 million ad buy before Saturday’s vote. A post-South Carolina travel schedule for Haley, obtained by the Associated Press, shows 11 separate stops in seven days across Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Massachusetts.
In an interview with the AP, Haley said she’d continue her bid for the presidency until after Super Tuesday’s slate of more than a dozen contests on March 5.
“Ten days after South Carolina, another 20 states vote. I mean, this isn’t Russia. We don’t want someone to go in and just get 99% of the vote,” Haley told The Associated Press. “What is the rush? Why is everybody so panicked about me having to get out of this race?”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.