Ahead of a major address, Nikki Haley told The Associated Press that she will not leave the Republican primary election regardless of the result in South Carolina this Saturday, vowing to stay in the 2024 race at least until after Super Tuesday on 5 March.
The former governor and UN ambassador has yet to win any state against frontrunner Donald Trump.
Ms Haley made headlines over the weekend by declining to say she would endorse Mr Trump but promising to pardon him if she entered the White House.
The former president reacted furiously to those comments, appearing to object to Ms Haley effectively “legitimising” the criminal cases against him, contrary to his baseless insistence that they are all part of a conspiracy being orchestrated by President Joe Biden and his myriad enemies.
In her remarks on Tuesday lunchtime, Ms Haley attacked both Mr Biden and Mr Trump for their respective ages and condemned their records in the White House — the former for inflation and the crisis at the border, and the latter for his myriad of legal problems and his callous insults directed at military heroes.