WASHINGTON, DC – Nikki Haley In the days leading up to Super Tuesday, he toured the country with a special pitch donors about why they continue to pay him. But the plan is missing a key element — a potential path to victory over former President Donald Trump, according to six sources familiar with the matter.
While most candidates offer more sincerity behind the scenes, donors fund their bids. Haley‘s private message largely matches his public message: He’s on the message until Super Tuesday, and then his campaign will take step by step.
Haley said Friday that he plans to stay in the race “as long as we’re competitive.”
“I don’t know that I’m done running for president,” he said. “If you’re in the race, the last thing you want to think about is not being in the race.”
That’s similar to the message he’s bringing to a 10-event fundraising drive that kicks off Feb. 25 in the key state of Michigan (he lost to Trump) and has continued in much the same way ever since.
Recent fundraising events range from small gatherings of around 45 people to larger gatherings of around 100 guests. Donors and VIPs sometimes join him before or after campaign stops, sometimes in the same place where he holds his rallies. The fundraising tour takes place Saturday with stops in North Carolina and Massachusetts.
However, there were no details on how he planned to defeat Trump in the delegate count at each caucus, according to six people familiar with the matter, some of whom declined to be named to speak freely.
Instead, according to a source who recently heard his donor pitch, it’s to help fund the “best operation” he can until Super Tuesday.
“Help me, then we’ll see how it goes. Measured,” this person said, concluding the message from Haley.
For example, at a private event in Virginia on Thursday, Haley told a crowd of about 100 people that she was the best candidate to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election, according to one attendee — a message she regularly delivers to crowds. trace
On Tuesday in Colorado, Haley held a question-and-answer session with donors. Two attendees, who declined to give their names to NBC News but wore VIP credentials, said Haley was asked about climate change and electric vehicles and that delegate math was not a focus.
“I didn’t hear talk of a delegate count,” he said.
Instead, he noted, he touched on a number of other topics, including a call to donors by state representatives on the Republican National Committee to demand a public vote on the party’s political operation that pays Trump’s legal bills.
“He told me and the group that those in every state should be asking the RNC committee members to reveal their vote on this,” Neiser said. Haley also invited journalists “Republicans in particular deserve a vote on this resolution,” he said the next day in Utah, demanding more transparency from the RNC about voting on the resolution.
While Haley’s pitch has clearly resonated with donors, as her campaign continues to raise millions of dollars, including $12 million in February, her message suggests she and her allies understand they can’t beat Trump with delegates and are content instead to be a thorn in the former president’s side.
When asked by NBC News at a small gathering with reporters here on Friday what the money was for — he declined to say with certainty that it would be in the Super Tuesday race — Haley shrugged off the building.
“When I go into a fundraiser, they don’t ask me, ‘What’s your strategy?’ They don’t ask me what is your plan? They simply say: “Thank you for giving me hope.” “Nobody said what you’re asking, which is, ‘How long are you staying?’ no one. What they are asking and saying is ‘continue the struggle’.”