Nikki Haley says Nevada is 'rigged' after losing to 'none of these candidates'
LOS ANGELES - Just one day after losing in Nevada's state-run GOP presidential primary, Nikki Haley is responding by saying the state's system is "rigged" and is a "scam."
On Tuesday, Haley lost by a more than two-to-one margin to the "none of these candidates" option. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, was not on the ballot. And voters casting ballots couldn't write in Trump's name, but they could vote for a "none of these candidates" option.
Haley told FOX 11 that she ignored Nevada, saying that it was "rigged from the start".
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"Nevada is such a scam. They were supposed to have a primary, Trump rigged it so the GOP chairman, who's been indicted, would go and create a caucus. We knew months ago that we weren't going to spend a day or dollar in Nevada because it wasn't worth it. And so we didn't count Nevada. That wasn't anything we were looking at, we knew it was rigged from the start. Our focus is on South Carolina, Michigan, Super Tuesday," Haley told FOX 11's Elex Michaelson in an exclusive interview.
The Associated Press called the race when "none of these candidates" was leading with about 60% of the vote. Haley trailed with 33%. She is the first presidential candidate to lose a race to "none of these candidates" since the option was first introduced in 1975.
Haley didn't campaign in Nevada ahead of the primary and hasn't been in the state since October.
The former U.N. ambassador and former governor of South Carolina is the last remaining major rival to Trump.
"Look at what we've done. We had 14 candidates in this race. I've defeated a dozen of the fellas. I got one left. We were 2% in Iowa. We finished with 20%. We got 43% in New Hampshire. But think about that. The Republican incumbent, Trump, didn't get 43% in New Hampshire. This is the opportunity for voters to say, do we want more of the same or do we want something new? More of the same is not just Joe Biden, it's also Donald Trump," Haley said.
Following her loss in Nevada, Haley spent Wednesday campaigning in California. In the morning she spoke at a gathering of the Republican Party of Orange County in Costa Mesa then held a rally in the evening at Hollywood American Legion Post 43.
FOX News contributed to this report