Nikki Haley refuses to back down in her presidential challenge against Donald Trump, boldly declaring, “I feel no need to kiss the ring.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and a presidential hopeful, showed no signs of backing down from her challenge to Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, on Tuesday. She said, “I feel no need to kiss the ring.”
Haley is facing a crucial test in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, where she hopes to win over her home state voters. She has been ramping up her criticism of Trump, who has won the first three states in the nomination race.
Discover the thrill of cricket like never before, exclusively on HT. Explore now!
She said in a Tuesday Greenville, South Carolina, speech, “We’ve all heard the calls for me to drop out.”
“I refuse to quit,” she added.
In an interview, she also told the Associated Press that she would continue her campaign beyond Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states will vote on 5 March.
“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,” Haley said, asking, “What is the rush? Why is everybody so panicked about me having to get out of this race?”
Her defiance provoked a sharp response from Trump’s campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “She’s going to drop down to kiss ass when she quits, like she always does.”
Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney mocked Cheung’s comment on the same platform, saying, “What a move. @TheStevenCheung is the key to winning back suburban women!”
In her Greenville speech, Haley suggested that some people, especially reporters, came to see if she would bow out of the race after Trump’s victories in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
“Well, I’m not. Far from it, and I’m here to tell you why,” she said. “I’m running for president because we have a country to save,” she said, citing domestic problems such as crime, gun violence, illegal drugs, education, immigration and the cost of living.
The Indian-American presidential hopeful also addressed foreign policy issues, saying, “I’m talking about the American weakness that led to wars in Europe, and the Middle East, and the urgent need to restore strength before war spreads and draws America further in. These are the challenges I’m here to tackle.”
Trump has been dismissive of Haley’s performance and has urged her to quit the race, after she emerged as his last remaining rival following the exits of other candidates such as Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sittom has confirmed that her office is now preparing arrest warrants for Don Steven McDougal, 42
Audrii Cunningham, an 11-year-old Texas girl who had gone missing, was found dead Tuesday afternoon, February 20. Her body was found in the Trinity River near the US Highway 59 bridge in Livingston, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons confirmed, according to Fox News.
“We will continue to process the evidence that has been gathered to ensure that there is justice for Audrii,” Lyons said.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sittom has confirmed that her office is now preparing arrest warrants for Don Steven McDougal, 42, in connection with the girl’s disappearance. He had been identified as a person of interest after the child went missing. McDougal could be facing capital murder charges.
McDougal was reportedly Cunningham’s father’s friend. He lived in a trailer behind the house, and would occasionally take Cunningham to school.
Last week, McDougal was arrested on unrelated charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was reportedly given “several opportunities to cooperate” with their investigation into Cunningham’s disappearance. “He was probably taking her to…the bus stop, and we do feel that he was the last person to see Audrii,” Lyons said, adding that the public must not “jump to conclusions.”
McDougal has faced previous charges in the past, from the early 2000s. He has been accused of crimes like enticing a child in Brazoria County in 2008, assaulting a family member and evading arrest in Liberty County, among several others.
On February 16, Polk County Sheriff’s Office issued an Amber alert for Cunningham. “Audrii was last seen near her residence, at approximately 7:00 AM, on February 15, 2024, in the 100 block of Lakeside Drive, in Polk County, Texas. Audrii should have caught the school bus at her neighborhood bus stop; however, school officials reported to the Sheriff’s Office that the school bus did not pick Audrii up, nor did she report to school,” they said in a press release on Facebook.
Police said a red ‘Helo Kitty’ backpack that was found near the Lake Livingston Dam after Cunningham’s disappearance may have belonged to her.
Survey ranks Donald Trump as the worst US president, trailing even those who faced civil war challenges. Joe Biden debuts at No 14.
A survey of US presidential greatness ranked Donald Trump as the worst of all 45 presidents, behind even those who failed to prevent or heal the civil war. Adding insult to injury, the likely Republican candidate for this year’s election, Joe Biden, debuted at No 14.
The political scientists who conducted the survey, Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus, wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “Biden’s most important achievements may be that he rescued the presidency from Trump, resumed a more traditional style of presidential leadership and is gearing up to keep the office out of his predecessor’s hands this fall.”
Vaughn, from Coastal Carolina University, and Rottinghaus, of the University of Houston, surveyed 154 scholars, mostly affiliated with the American Political Science Association.
They explained their goal, saying it “was to create a ranking of presidential greatness that covered all presidents from George Washington to Joe Biden”, following similar lists they made in 2015 and 2018.
They asked the respondents to rate each president on a scale of 0-100 for their overall greatness, with 0=failure, 50=average, and 100=great. They then calculated the average score for each president and ranked them from highest to lowest.
What the list contains
The top of the list did not change much from previous surveys – except for Trump, who was also last when he was in office.
The first place went to Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery and led the country through the civil war. He was followed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who guided the US during the Great Depression and the second world war. The third spot belonged to George Washington, the first president, who secured independence from Britain. The next three were Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and Harry Truman.
Barack Obama, the first Black president and Biden’s vice-president from 2009 to 2017, rose nine places to seventh.
Vaughn and Rottinghaus also observed the effect of racial justice movements on the rankings of Andrew Jackson (from ninth in 2015 to 21st now) and Woodrow Wilson (from 10th to 15th).
“Their reputations have consistently suffered in recent years as modern politics lead scholars to assess their early 19th and 20th century presidencies ever more harshly, especially their unacceptable treatment of marginalised people,” they wrote.
