The Republican Party, also known as the GOP, has had quick turnovers and intense fights fueled by the upcoming 2024 presidential elections. Amongst the 13 starting candidates, only two remain in the race to become the GOP’s presidential nominee: Donald Trump and Nikki Haley. The most central candidates from the GOP have been Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis.
Donald Trump v Nikki Haley
Trump was the 45th U.S. President from 2016 to 2020. He originally won the race to Hilary Clinton in 2016 and lost the 2020 elections to Joe Biden, the current U.S. President. After losing the 2020 elections, Trump accused Biden and the Democratic Party of alleged widespread voter fraud. He also is the only American president to have been impeached twice, both times acquitted by the Senate.
Haley was a former United States ambassador to the United Nations who also served as the 116th governor of South Carolina.
Haley was placed under scrutiny after failing to provide an answer to a journalist’s question asking, “what was the cause of the civil war.”
Haley and Trump are the only remaining presidential candidates for the GOP. Interestingly, their relationship has taken many turns, specifically on Haley’s perception of Trump. In early 2016 Haley announced that she would not be supporting Trump because he was “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president.” However after Trump nominated Haley to be an ambassador to the United Nations, their relationship took a positive turn.
Later in 2020, Haley was found actively supporting Trump and his campaign.
Even after the Jan. 6 insurrection, Haley continued to defend Trump stating that she didn’t want to “go back to the Republican Party before Trump.”
In 2021, Haley told the press that she would not run if Trump did. However, she drew back on those statements and proceeded to run for the elections.
Now, Haley and Trump make constant attacks at each other’s campaigns. Trump warned that he would blacklist Haley’s campaign donors, and they would be “permanently barred from the MAGA camp”
Haley’s response was “bring it, Donald,show me what you got.” Haley reported receiving $1 million in funding in the days following, but also lost a prominent funder. After refusing to participate in the Republican debate without Trump present, Haley has been mocked by Ron DeSantis for being ‘scared’.
Trump won the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucus, which puts pressure on Haley to win the primary for her hometown, South Carolina to show that she is a viable candidate to become the GOP’s presidential nominee.
Vivek Ramaswamy & Ron DeSantis
Vivek Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur who founded the pharmaceutical company, Roivant Sciences. He launched his campaign based on battling the woke ideology and inviting younger voters into the Republican party. However, his campaign fell flat as he came in fourth behind both DeSantis and Haley in the Iowa caucus. After choosing to suspend his campaign, he has put his full support behind Trump and his campaign.
Ramaswamy said that the race “could really take an ugly turn in the way that this reveals the corruption of the Republican Party itself if Nikki Haley continues to stay in this race.”
Ramaswamy has been rumored to be a potential Vice President candidate for Trump.
Ron DeSantis is the 46th governor of Florida, and a founding member of the Freedom Caucus. At a recent rally, he made comments that “Florida is where woke goes to die,” similar comments to Ramaswamy. Despite his second place in the Iowa caucus, DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump. However, just a day after his endorsement, DeSantis vowed to veto a Republican proposal to authorize the use of Florida’s tax dollars to endorse Trump.
On the other hand, DeSantis launched a website TrumpNikki2024″ in late December, accusing Haley of running in the elections simply to become Trump’s vice president.
Despite differing opinions, both Ramaswamy and DeSantis, the two main candidates after Trump and Haley, have endorsed Trump after stepping down from the race. This leaves Haley alone with no public endorsements from previous presidential candidates.
The GOP’s Future
Trump and Haley have both made it clear that they do not have any intentions of dropping out of the race. Both need 1,215 delegates in order to win the nomination, and Trump currently stands with 33 delegates and Haley with 17. Which means that the upcoming primaries will be essential for both Trump and Haley.
Quoting Ramaswamy, this “could really take an ugly turn.”
