Nikki Haley continues to surge with crucial new endorsement

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Former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley received a huge endorsement Tuesday from New Hampshire’s Governor.

Chris Sununu, the four-term governor from the state with the first-in-the-nation primary, threw his full-throated support behind Haley.

At an event together in Manchester, Sununu said he is “all in” on Nikki Haley’s White House bid.

“This is not a campaign,” Sununu said. “This is a movement.”

Sununu backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, but now urges New Hampshire voters to move on from him.

“We’ve got a president that’s more concerned about his jail time [than running the country],” Sununu said about Trump. “That’s chaos, and we’ve got to move on.”

The Governor even told fellow Republicans that it would be “irresponsible” to nominate Trump for a third time.

Doing so, he said, would cause the country to be “constantly distracted by whatever nonsense and drama by what the former president brings to the table.”

Sununu’s endorsement of Nikki Haley adds to her growing momentum a month away from voting

Sununu’s decision to endorse Haley comes at a crucial time for the former South Carolina governor. Despite the boost, Haley is still facing an uphill battle to overthrow Trump in his quest to be the GOP nominee for the third election cycle in a row.

Trump is currently polling 27 points ahead of Haley in New Hampshire, and more than 50 points ahead of her nationwide. And Haley, whom Trump appointed as UN Ambassador in 2017, has been slow to criticize her old boss.

Still, Haley is quickly securing support from key organizations and donors. The group Americans For Prosperity, the Koch brothers, and other billionaire funders are abandoning other candidates like DeSantis in favor of Haley.

A large reason for Haley’s surge is her consistently strong performance in the GOP primary debates. In the most recent debate last Wednesday, Haley fended off attacks about her record from Ron DeSantis, as well as personal and sexist attacks from Vivek Ramaswamy.

And amid this display of debating skills, Haley also polls stronger against Biden than any other Republican candidate. In a recent Wall Street Journal poll, she led Biden by 17 points nationwide. By contrast, Trump only led Biden by four points, while DeSantis tied the president in a head-to-head matchup.

With just 33 days until the Iowa caucus and just 41 days until the New Hampshire primary, the window for Haley to seize this momentum and best Trump for the nomination is rapidly closing. But the opportunity is undoubtedly there.