Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has evidently changed her mind. She indicated she no longer feels bound by her promise to support the eventual GOP nominee.
“No, I think I’ll make what decision I want to make, but that’s not something I’m thinking about,” she told Meet the Press‘ Kristen Welker, adding that “if you talk about an endorsement, you’re talking about a loss. I don’t think like that.”
Her remarks gave fuel to speculation that she is being considered by the No Labels Party for its nominee. The No Labels Party said it will make its decision about a nominee sometime after March 15. The party will be holding a private meeting on March 8 to decide whether to move forward with a third-party candidate.
Haley told reporters on Friday that she has not spoken to anyone about a separate bid with No Labels, saying the group would require her to have a Democrat as a running mate.
“I’m a Republican,” Haley to reporters, according to NBC News. “If I ran for No Labels, that would mean it’s about me. It’s not about me. It’s about the direction I think the country should go.”
Donald Trump on Saturday won the Republican caucuses in Michigan, Idaho, and Missouri. Between the three states, Trump won with nearly 98% support: 1,575 votes for Trump and 36 for Haley.
Haley won her first primary — Washington, D.C., where 19 delegates were up for grabs.
Trump now has 244 delegates, to Haley’s 24. On Tuesday, 15 states will decide and 1,225 delegates will be decided. By March 16, 1,415 delegate pledges will have been decided. By the end of March, more than 70% of delegates will be committed.
On Tuesday, Alaska Republicans will take part in a caucus-by-ballot event called the Presidential Preference Poll, which will determine the distribution of the 29 delegates the Alaska GOP will have to the national convention in Milwaukee, Wis., July 15-18.
Haley also said on the Sunday show that the RNC is “not the same RNC, now it’s Trump’s RNC.”
