
Former president and current GOP primary frontrunner Donald Trump headed to Nevada this week for a campaign rally ahead of the state’s caucuses on February 8, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) has ignored Nevada — repeatedly claiming that South Carolina was the next state to hold a contest.
THANK YOU LAS VEGAS!! pic.twitter.com/dofOkEzNOe
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) January 28, 2024
Until the Nevada state legislature passed a law in 2021 mandating that the state hold presidential primaries, Nevada’s delegates were apportioned through a caucus system for 40 years. Despite the new law, the Nevada Republican Party chose to hold caucuses for the 2024 GOP presidential contest. However, the state is still holding a primary — causing confusion among voters and issues for the candidates.
The Nevada GOP has declared that the delegates will be handed out based on the caucuses and told candidates that they would not be allowed to participate in the caucuses if they put their names on the primary ballot. Despite this, Haley chose to participate in the primary, which will not award her any delegates. Trump chose to participate in the caucuses, meaning that he is the only major Republican candidate being considered in Nevada.
While it is clear that Trump will win the Nevada GOP Caucuses, as he is essentially running unopposed, the former president has still decided to head to the state to campaign and speak with voters, where he appeared for a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday.
A huge crowd waiting to see President Trump in Las Vegas, Nevada. 🔥🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/lnUgYZNHQj
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) January 27, 2024
Meanwhile, Haley has completely ignored Nevada. According to reports, she chose not to participate in the caucuses because she did not want to pay the $55,000 fee. However, that does not explain why she chose not to even show up in the state to speak with voters — many of whom were frustrated with her decision to snub their state.
“There’s no point in participating in the caucus,” Charles Fruit, a Haley supporter, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I can’t vote for my candidate. They’re basically disenfranchising me. And this is happening by my own Republican party. I’m very unhappy about it.”
It appeared that Fruit is misinformed about the situation, as Red State notes: “Someone needs to inform Mr. Fruit that Haley robbed him of that opportunity; the party decided on the system, the candidates understood this system, and Trump went for the interaction with the people and actual payoff, while Haley chose the traditional route… And from what the Nevada Republican Party has said, the Haley campaign has expressed zero interest in wooing Nevada voters.”
Other than a brief appearance in Las Vegas for the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit in October, Haley has essentially avoided Nevada altogether during the election cycle. After losing to Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire by wide margins, Haley repeatedly declared that she would be successful in the “next” primary in her home state of South Carolina — completely ignoring the fact that Nevada’s GOP caucuses came before South Carolina.
“New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not the last in the nation,” she said during a speech after losing the New Hampshire GOP Primary. “This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go. And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina.”
Nikki Haley: "I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight…New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not the last in the nation. This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go and the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina." pic.twitter.com/ZyEIYGrZWH
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 24, 2024
Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald has expressed disappointment with Haley’s refusal to acknowledge his state, pointing out in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the state party has attempted to involve Haley’s campaign in the caucuses on multiple occasions but never received a response.
“I thought the world of Nikki Haley before this process,” he said. “Her campaign blew us off. We realized that she wasn’t interested in working with Republicans in the state of Nevada.”