After “Trump Force One” touched down at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport on Feb. 20, former President Donald Trump greeted a line of his supporters, bantering and signing memorabilia.
He also answered a question from The Epoch Times: Does he think former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will run as a “No Labels” candidate?
After a moment, President Trump responded: “We’ve had enough of her.”
Ms. Haley’s speech at roughly the same time that day promised she would not drop out after the Feb. 24 Republican presidential primary, a race she is widely expected to lose.
“I feel no need to kiss the ring. And I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him. My own political future is of zero concern,” she said during that speech.
The former ambassador to the U.N. said that her “purpose has never been to stop Trump at all costs,” noting that she voted for him twice.
“South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere,” Ms. Haley said.
Her address has led to speculation about her intentions as Republican pressure and the delegate math make her path to the nomination narrower.
One possibility lies with No Labels, a political organization that tried and failed to recruit what it defines as centrist presidential contenders, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.).
Joe Lieberman, formerly a Democratic senator from Connecticut and the No Labels co-chair, spoke positively about the idea of a Haley run on the No Labels ticket.
“I think I’m speaking for a lot of No Labels members. Gov. Haley would deserve serious consideration,” Mr. Lieberman said in January.
In Aiken, South Carolina, on Feb. 21, Vivek Ramaswamy, who was campaigning for President Trump, enlarged on that theme.
He said that those who are funding the former governor could now be “preparing for a No Labels ticket that then takes votes from Donald Trump away in that general election.”
“The establishment’s bipartisan. So they will stop at nothing to get Donald Trump out of office if they haven’t their way,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.
The speculation touched off a segment on Fox News. Martha MacCallum questioned Ms. Haley about the “No Labels” speculation in light of her speech.
The speech “raised a lot of questions from people about whether or not you would ever consider any sort of third-party race, because you said you don’t want it to be either of those two guys,” Ms. MacCallum said.
“My focus is running in a Republican primary. It always has been. I have never talked to the ‘No Labels’ people, that’s not anything I’m focused on,” the candidate responded.
The 2024 presidential race already has a heavyweight third-party challenger in the form of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., formerly a Democrat and now an independent.
Multiple experts who spoke with The Epoch Times in 2023 predicted that Mr. Kennedy would siphon more votes from President Trump than President Biden.
From The Epoch Times
