'I'm not going anywhere': Nikki Haley vows to keep fighting Donald Trump in 2024 GOP race

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A defiant Nikki Haley vowed to stay in the GOP presidential race, saying it's clear that Americans want a choice beyond Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden.

Despite lagging far behind Trump in the polls, Haley cited surveys showing that more than two-thirds of Americans don't want a repeat of the 2020 contest between Trump and Biden. She cast herself as someone who could unite a polarized country, at one point tearing up as she spoke of her husband's service in the Army National Guard.

"The majority of Americans don’t just dislike one candidate," Haley said in remarks that her campaign billed as a "state of the race" speech. "They dislike both."

"The truth is, Americans already know what Joe Biden and Donald Trump will do," Haley said. "They’re dividers at a time when America desperately, urgently, needs a uniter."

On Saturday, she and Trump will face off in her home state of South Carolina. The next contest is Michigan on Feb. 27 and Super Tuesday is on March. 5.

Doubling down, Haley promised her supporters and Republican voters alike: ''I'm not going anywhere."

Haley says Republicans secretly 'dread' Trump

Haley choked up as she talked about her husband Michael's military deployment overseas as she noted he was unable to join her on the trail. Trump previously mocked the absence of Haley's husband and questioned his whereabouts during a rally in early February.

Using some of her sharpest language yet to describe the former president, Haley argued that another Trump administration would be a "disaster" and that many Republican politicians who publicly support his candidacy "dread him" behind closed doors.

More: Home sweet home? Donald Trump trounces Nikki Haley in exclusive South Carolina poll

Haley also reiterated that she believes she is better positioned than Trump, 77, to defeat President Joe Biden, 81, in a general election match-up. Haley highlighted concerns over both of their ages, calling them "two old men who are getting older."

However, she dismissed claims that she is running as a "never Trump" candidate and emphasized her work as an ambassador to the United Nations during his administration.

"Like most Americans, I have a handful of serious concerns about the former president. But I have countless serious concerns about the current president," she said, attacking Biden for his handling of immigration and the economy, among other issues.

Trump has attempted to portray Haley as liberal-leaning in recent weeks. The main super PAC that is supporting him, Make America Great Again Inc., trolling Haley that questioned whether she was trying to replace Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket.

"Every dollar spent by Nikki Haley is a dollar spent in support of Joe Biden and the Democrats," the group's spokesperson, Alex Pfeiffer, said in the Tuesday statement.

In her speech, Haley rejected chatter that she's staying in the race for her own future political ambitions.

"Other people say I’m trying to set up a future presidential run. How does that even work? If I was running for a bogus reason, I would have dropped out a long time ago," she said.

Haley had pledged on Monday evening to remain in the race until Super Tuesday, telling her supporters during a Greer rally that she planned to head to Michigan on Sunday. Michigan's primary is next Tuesday. Haley will then face a critical stretch of campaigning in 15 states and one territory ahead of their March 5 contests. Her campaign previously signaled that it views that date as a crucial one for her candidacy.

Trump's top campaign aides said in a Tuesday morning memo that based on their projections, the former president will amass the require 1,215 delegates to win the GOP nomination no later than March 19.

"The true “State” of Nikki Haley’s campaign? Broken down, out of ideas, out of gas, and completely outperformed by every measure, by Donald Trump," Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote.

Exclusive polling shows daunting battle for Haley in home state

In an exclusive Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll released Tuesday, Trump is poised to trounce Haley this Saturday in South Carolina. Among those very likely to vote in the state's Republican primary, Trump leads Haley by close to 2-1, 63%-35%.

Haley urged voters in her home state to disregard the polls.

"People have a right to have their voices heard and they deserve a real choice, not a Soviet style election where there's only one candidate and he gets 99% of the vote" she said.

In Greenville, relief swelled over supporters after listening to Haley’s story where she promised to stay in the race after South Carolina votes on Feb. 24, no matter what the results show.

Cynthia Long, a local to downtown Greenville, said that Haley represents a choice for voters.

“I think staying in as long as she can afford to is a good thing because it gives the people a choice,” Long said. Even if Haley loses to Trump by a margin larger than 10 points, she said she hopes to see Haley stay in the race “all the way to the convention.”

South Carolina State Representative Bart Blackwell, who represents Aiken, echoed the same hopes. He also thinks polls showing Trump leading Haley in her home state are not accurate. “I think we’re going to be surprised on Saturday," he said.

“That's what American people want. They want a choice, and the race is far from over,” Blackwell said. “And I'm just thrilled with her decision, and I admire her courage for continuing forward.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nikki Haley vows to keep fighting Donald Trump in 2024 Republican race