跟随周二在内华达州共和党初选中的惨败前南卡罗莱纳州州长妮基·黑利试图否认她在“这些候选人中没有一个”中排名第二的事实——这是她迄今为止在总统竞选中连续第三次失败——并表示她的竞选重点是其他更大的州。
她还重申，她认为在内华达州与前总统唐纳德·特朗普认真竞争没有什么意义举行两场不同的提名比赛她参加的初选没有获得共和党提名的代表，而周四举行的党团会议将获得提名。
“我们一直知道内华达州是一个骗局，”海利周三在福克斯商业频道上说。“特朗普从一开始就操纵了这一切。关于这一点有很多新闻报道。...他们想让我们支付55，000美元参加他们的核心会议。所以我们没有在那里花一天或一美元。我们甚至都不担心。”
海利的竞选团队此前称党团会议“被操纵”，内华达州共和党一再否认这一指控。
海莉在福克斯商业频道上说，她目前的重点是南卡罗来纳州、密歇根州和3月5日的超级星期二，届时许多州将同时投票。
海利竞选团队的发言人奥利维亚·佩雷斯-古巴(Olivia Perez-Cuba)周二在前州长败选后发表了一份声明，呼应了海利的观点。
“即使是唐纳德·特朗普也知道，当你玩便士老虎机时，赌场就会赢，”她说，并补充说，“我们在南卡罗来纳州和其他地方全速前进。”
海莉基本上完全没有参加内华达州的竞选活动。她周二没有在加州，而是在加州参加了筹款活动，周三她还在那里主持了一整天的竞选活动。
尽管她在民意调查和代表人数方面仍落后于特朗普，但海莉表示，初选还为时过早——她哪儿也不会去。
她的竞选日程反映了这一点。本周在加州结束竞选活动后，她将返回南卡罗来纳州。本周末，她将在那里举行两场竞选活动，为2月24日的初选做准备。
Following another big loss to Trump, Haley calls Nevada 'a scam' and says she's focused elsewhere
Followinga bruising defeat in the Nevada's Republican primary on Tuesday, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley sought to brush off the fact that she came in second to "none of these candidates" -- her third straight loss in the presidential race so far -- and said her campaign focus is on other, bigger states.
She also reiterated that she never saw much point in seriously competing against former President Donald Trump in Nevada, which isholding two different nominating contests: the primary she ran in, which didn't award delegates to earn the GOP nomination, and the party-run caucuses on Thursday, which will.
"We always knew Nevada was a scam," Haley said on Fox Business on Wednesday. "Trump had it rigged from the very beginning. There are multiple press stories on that. ... They wanted us to pay $55,000 to just participate in their caucus. So we didn't spend a day or $1 there. We weren't even worried about it."
Haley's campaign previously called the caucuses "rigged," an allegation the Nevada Republican Party has repeatedly denied.
Haley said on Fox Business that her current focus is on South Carolina, Michigan and Super Tuesday, on March 5, when many states will vote simultaneously.
Olivia Perez-Cuba, a spokeswoman for the Haley campaign, released a statement on Tuesday following the former governor's loss, echoing Haley's sentiments.
"Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots the house wins," she said, adding, "We're full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond."
Haley had largely skipped campaigning in Nevada altogether. Instead of being in the state on Tuesday, she attended fundraisers in California, where she is also hosting campaign events throughout the day on Wednesday.
Though she still trails Trump in both polling and delegates, Haley has said it's early in the primary season -- and she's not going anywhere.
Her campaign schedule reflects that. Following her swing in California this week, she'll head back to South Carolina, where she'll hold two campaign events this weekend in the lead-up to the Feb. 24 primary there.
