Nikki Haley vows to stay in race ahead of South Carolina speech – live

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Yet another poll indicates that Nikki Haley is far behind Donald Trump among Republican voters in her home state South Carolina.

A just-released Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey finds Trump with 58% support and Haley with 35% support, a gap of 23 points. Seven percent of voters say they’re undecided.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s primary in her home state South Carolina, the Associated Press reports that Nikki Haley has a full schedule of campaign events planned.

The former South Carolina governor plans to stop in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Washington DC, Minnesota, Michigan, Virginia, Colorado and Utah after the primary. Her campaign has also bought $500,000 in advertisements to air in Michigan ahead of its primary on 27 February.

Haley vows to stay in race ahead of South Carolina speech

Nikki Haley has told the Associated Press she has no plans to exit the presidential race, and cast doubt on Donald Trump’s ability to win the general election.

“What is the rush? Why is everybody so panicked about me having to get out of this race?” the former South Carolina governor told the AP in an interview ahead of her 12pm speech. “That’s about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. If I get out of the race today, it will be the longest general election in history.”

The AP reports that he campaign won’t say if there is a state where they think Haley can beat Trump. In her interview, Haley cited Trump’s legal troubles to warn he may not be able to beat Joe Biden.

“Instead of asking me what states I’m gonna win, why don’t we ask how he’s gonna win a general election after spending a full year in a courtroom?” she said. “Ten days after South Carolina, another 20 states vote. I mean, this isn’t Russia. We don’t want someone to go in and just get 99% of the vote.”

After explaining the reasons why they believe Nikki Haley is doomed, Donald Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles outline their plans.

It’s a revealing look into the strategy they’ll execute as they shift into taking on Joe Biden in the general election:

Acknowledge that Nikki Haley is irrelevant and not newsworthy — and unworthy of said attention.

The Republican National Committee becomes one with the Donald J. Trump for President campaign.

Convention planning, fundraising, strategy, and state party tactics — including full coordination with the NRCC and the NRSC — begin in earnest.

The General election (even though we have always known it started months ago) begins, and the case to Fire Joe Biden is prosecuted.

Trump campaign says 'the end is near' for Haley

In a newly released memo, top Donald Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles argue Nikki Haley has no path to winning the Republican presidential nomination.

“We won’t bore you with the reams of data that show an ass-kicking in the making in South Carolina, but we will show you the very serious math problem Nikki Haley has. This is the diagnosis she refuses to accept: The end is near,” they write in a memo that predicts her campaign will “end” after South Carolina’s primary on Saturday.

Here’s more:

Currently, President Trump has 63 delegates. If we were overly generous and applied a ‘worst case’ model reflecting Nikki Haley’s loss in New Hampshire across the remaining states and Congressional Districts, President Trump would earn 114 Delegates the week following the South Carolina Primary. On Super Tuesday, under this very favorable model for Nikki, President Trump would win 773 Delegates. President Trump would win an additional 162 Delegates the following two weeks, after Super Tuesday. And, on March 19, under this most-generous model for Nikki, President Trump would win the Republican nomination for President.

Now, if we ignore this model and follow what the current data — both public and private — suggests, President Trump will win the Republican nomination one week earlier, on March 12, with 1,223 Delegates. Which is all to say, before March Madness tips off next month, President Trump will be the Republican nominee for President.

Donald Trump may not have to worry too much about winning the Republican presidential nomination, but he’s still entangled in several legal matters, both criminal and civil. The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that a judge’s decision last week set the stage for his first criminal trial to begin in a matter of weeks:

Donald Trump’s legal calendar is coming into sharper relief after a New York judge affirmed last week that the ex-president’s first criminal trial – on charges that he manipulated the 2016 election by concealing hush-money payments to an adult film star – will proceed to trial in Manhattan next month.

A federal case in Washington over the former president’s alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election had been expected to go first. But when Trump filed appeals on grounds of presidential immunity last year, the presiding US district judge, Tanya Chutkan, was forced to put the case on hold.

Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday scheduled Trump’s hush money trial to start on 25 March in Manhattan and last roughly six weeks. Allowing a week for jury selection and deliberation could mean a verdict might arrive around mid-May.

That is the straightforward part.

Donald Trump’s campaign is keeping up its attacks on Nikki Haley, and insisting she has no path to the nomination.

Here’s the message being pushed by campaign adviser Jason Miller:

Haley does not plan to drop out – report

When she speaks at 12pm today, Nikki Haley will “address the state of the presidential race”, according to her campaign. Such language is often used before a candidate pulls the plug on their run for office, but NBC News reports that the former South Carolina governor is not doing that today:

It’s unclear where Haley is hoping to catch up to Donald Trump’s lead in delegates. She’s trailing the former president in most state-level polls, including of the 15 states voting in the 5 March Super Tuesday primary, which could decide the Republican nominee.

Haley to address presidential race ahead of crucial South Carolina primary

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Today at noon eastern time, we’re going to hear from Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who is the last major challenger remaining to Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. Her speech in Greenville, South Carolina, comes before the state’s Republican primary on Saturday, which is viewed as crucial for Haley to win, or at least come close to winning, in order to continue her campaign. Yet polls generally show Trump with an overwhelming advantage in the Palmetto state, meaning Haley supporters may be in for more disappointment.

Trump is meanwhile busy convincing people that his nomination is inevitable. Politico reports that today his campaign will release a memo arguing that the former president will have an insurmountable lead in Republican delegates by the middle of March. We’ll let you know what Haley has to say about all that when she speaks at 12pm.

Here’s what else is going on today:

Joe Biden is flying to Los Angeles, where he’ll participate in an evening campaign reception.

Congress has been deadlocked for weeks over passing legislation to approve military aid to Israel and Ukraine, and potentially tighten border policy, but perhaps there’ll be some news in the negotiations today.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will take reporters’ questions sometime after 1pm.