Gov. Gavin Newsom says Nikki Haley is ‘one of our better surrogates’ and questions why she is staying in the race after stunning defeat in her home state

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he wants Nikki Haley to remain in the 2024 presidential primary race because she is essentially a “surrogate” for Democrats.

After an embarrassing loss to Donald Trump in her home state South Carolina primary on Saturday, former U.N. ambassador. Haley said she will keep her word and stay in the race until Super Tuesday.

Newsom said there is no chance Haley can win the Republican nomination against Trump after the former president swept the first four primary states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

He said it’s “beyond me” why Haley wants to stay in the race, but he’s okay with it because it helps Democrats to have a fellow Republican point out Trump’s downfalls.

The former UN ambassador. Nikki Haley said in her speech after Saturday’s primary that she plans to keep her word and stay in the race even after a crushing loss in her home state of South Carolina.

“She’s making points that I applaud every day about her temperament, her ability, her breakdown in real time,” Newsom told NBC Meet the Press host Kristen Welker on Sunday.

He added: “And I think it’s been incredibly effective, so I hope he stays home, personally.”

Republicans theorize that Democrats are planning to run Newsom in the 2024 primary instead of President Joe Biden.

Newsom insists he has no plans to run for the White House this cycle, but Republicans aren’t convinced he won’t speak at the Democratic nominating convention over the summer.

He told NBC during his Sunday interview that any calls for him to enter the race are just “useless talk” and a “sideshow.”

“It’s not even an interesting conversation,” he added, stating that he “100%” rules out that possibility.

A Republican candidate must accumulate 1,215 delegates in the primary election to obtain the Republican nomination. After Saturday’s election, Trump has 107 delegates and Haley has only 17. She lost by 20 percent to Trump in a state where she was once governor.

“I don’t know why Democrats would want to take her out of the race,” Governor Newsom said, insisting: “She’s one of our best replacements.”

“I mean, she’s defining opposition to Trump incredibly effectively.”

Haley has repeatedly said she plans to stay in the race until Super Tuesday on March 5, when 15 states and American Samoa will hold their Republican primaries. There are 874 Republican delegates at stake on that single day of voting.

“I said earlier this week that no matter what happened in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president,” Haley said in her Saturday speech from Charleston.

‘I am a woman of my word. “I’m not going to give up this fight when the majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”

Donald Trump gave a victory speech just minutes after polls closed in South Carolina at 7:00 pm on Saturday, and he did not once mention Haley’s name, instead focusing his attention on the general election in November.

The South Carolina primary race was called for Trump just seconds after polls closed at 7:00 pm Saturday night.

Trump’s victory speech from Columbia, South Carolina, began at 7:02 p.m. and did not include a single mention of his remaining competitor as the former president shifts strategy from the primary to the November general election.

Trump said November 5, 2024 will be the “most important date in history.”

“Nine months is a long time,” he said of the time left before this year’s presidential election. “I just wish we could do it faster.”

“You know, in certain countries, you can announce the date of your elections,” he added. ‘If I had the right to do it, I would do it tomorrow. I would say that tomorrow we will have elections.

Haley’s loss on Saturday marks the first time a Republican candidate has lost his home state primary in more than 50 years. The previous one was Richard Nixon, who lost the California primary to Ronald Reagan, who was also from California.