After a devastating loss in her home state, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has also lost her biggest financial backer.
The group Americans for Prosperity Action, funded by billionaire Charles Koch, issued a memo saying it would stop funding Haley’s campaign, although it continues to endorse her against former President Donald Trump.
The February 25th announcement, shared with The Hill, was written by senior adviser Emily Seidel.
“Nikki Haley has been willing to take on that challenge and offer America a forward-looking vision and solutions to the toughest issues our country faces. She is by far the best candidate to turn the page on our dysfunctional politics and take our country in a new, positive direction,” Seidel wrote.
“As we’ve discussed since the endorsement in November, we knew the presidential primary faced the longest odds — but we also knew given what’s at stake, we couldn’t sit on the sidelines. “
“She has made it clear that she will continue to fight and we wholeheartedly support her in this effort. But given the challenges in the primary states ahead, we don’t believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory. And so while we will continue to endorse her, we will focus our resources where we can make the difference. And that’s the U.S. Senate and House,” Seidel added.
The group’s endorsement of Haley last November was its first foray into a presidential primary.
Haley pledged to stay in the race despite her loss on Saturday. Her campaign issued a statement thanking the AFP for its brief support and reinforced her vow to go on.
“AFP is a great organization and ally in the fight for freedom and conservative government. We thank them for their tremendous help in this race,” her campaign’s national spokesperson said in a statement.
“Our fight continues, and with more than $1 million coming in from grassroots conservatives in just the last 24 hours, we have plenty of fuel to keep going. We have a country to save.”
Victory for our side
I used to thin the Koch Brothers were cool
How wrong I was.
Like Nikkis determination but not her gullible person. Not really presidential material.