--- title: 'Never Trump' Republicans Weigh Pivot to Biden as Haley Fades description: "Never Means Never." As Haley ends her campaign, anti-Trump conservatives are weighing whether they will back Biden, and if they'll go public with it. canonical: https://time.com/6852965/donald-trump-nikki-haley-republicans/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-03-06T02:32:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:32.243Z article:section: Politics og:title: With Haley Out, 'Never Trump' Republicans Mull Pivot to Biden og:description: As Haley's chances fade, "Never Trump" Republican Sarah Longwell says she will be voting for Joe Biden if Trump is the GOP nominee. “I will support anyone against Trump. Never means never.” og:url: https://time.com/6852965/donald-trump-nikki-haley-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fcbdbf7effebf93/698a491acabb1daa6ae52beb/GettyImages-2054241445.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Campaigns Holds Campaign Rally In Richmond, Virginia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: With Haley Out, 'Never Trump' Republicans Mull Pivot to Biden twitter:description: As Haley's chances fade, "Never Trump" Republican Sarah Longwell says she will be voting for Joe Biden if Trump is the GOP nominee. “I will support anyone against Trump. Never means never.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fcbdbf7effebf93/698a491acabb1daa6ae52beb/GettyImages-2054241445.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘Never Means Never’: A ‘Never Trump’ Republican on Where the Movement Goes Next > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Haley Suspends Her Campaign, Leaving Trump as Last Major Republican Candidate [Watch (HLS stream): Haley Suspends Her Campaign, Leaving Trump as Last Major Republican Candidate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oTWkaxtm.m3u8) (3:53)  _Published 2024-03-06. Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Mar 6, 2024 2:32 AM UTC  Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally on March 2, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. Media outlets called the state for Trump after polls closed on Super Tuesday. Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally on March 2, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. Media outlets called the state for Trump after polls closed on Super Tuesday. Getty Images—2024 Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Mar 6, 2024 2:32 AM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ Sarah Longwell is the type of Republican who held onto hope as long as she could. In 2016, the K Street pro successfully kept the Log Cabin Republicans from endorsing Donald Trump’s candidacy, denying the nominee the backing of the nation’s largest LGBTQ organization for conservatives. For weeks, Longwell and her fellow board members heard from state chapters, donors, activists, and the Republican Party’s small-but-vocal cadre of insider elites. They all made the persuasive case that a non-endorsement of the GOP nominee was a tacit backing for Hillary Clinton. Ultimately, amid uncertainty about what—if [anything](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/magazine/gay-conservative-trump-era.html)—Trump believed on gay rights, the Log Cabin Republicans held their fire. When Trump started to run his re-election three years later, though, Longwell and her like-minded institutionalists could not stop the [march](https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gay-republican-group-endorses-trump-reversal-2016-n1043221). The Log Cabin Republicans reversed course and [endorsed](https://www.washingtonblade.com/2019/08/27/exclusive-log-cabin-executive-director-resigns-over-trump-endorsement/) Trump for a second term despite a record that was marked with indifference to discrimination and [hostility](https://time.com/4875089/transgender-troops-trump-backfire/) toward trans individuals in particular. In turn, several board members—including Longwell, whose conservative credentials are not really in doubt given her time [working](https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2020/9/03/former-log-cabin-republican-mission-stop-trump) for Sen. Rick Santorum—[left](https://www.thepinknews.com/2019/08/23/log-cabin-republicans-group-losing-members-trump-endorsement/?%5Fgl=1%2A1fzckf2%2A%5Fga%2AMjAyODA4NzY4My4xNzA5NjE2MTg2%2A%5Fga%5FBX9CRJ4BBP%2AMTcwOTYxNjE4NS4xLjAuMTcwOTYxNjE5MC42MC4wLjA.) the organization, along with its [executive director](https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/politics/log-cabin-republicans-director-resigns/index.html). Longwell soon became one of the country’s most visible and outspoken NeverTrumpers, after helping launch Defending Democracy Together and its Republican Voters Against Trump project. It was lonely work, but Longwell held out hope that her longtime view of the conservative movement in the United States would come back to equilibrium with her steady hand. That optimism is now gone. “The fever is not going to break,” Longwell told me ahead of Super Tuesday’s polls closing in 15 states for Republican voters. “The voters are not interested in it breaking. We are never going back.” For Longwell and similar committed "Never Trumpers," Nikki Haley was their final hope. But as Trump was on track to rout his last remaining GOP rival from California to Maine Tuesday night, Haley’s _raison d'être_ just became a whole lot less tenable. The former South Carolina governor has no television ads scheduled after Tuesday or campaign stops on the books. As her zombie campaign fades further into background noise, Trump critics like Longwell are getting more pressure to fall in line behind the GOP standard-bearer. Put plainly: you’re either a Republican or a "Never Trumper." You can’t be both. For Longwell, the choice is an easy one. If it’s down to Trump and Biden, she will be casting a vote for the Democratic incumbent. “When people say the NeverTrumpers have to pick a side, they’re missing a big part,” says Longwell. “I will support anyone against Trump. _Never_ means never.” **Listen**: [_The "Person of the Week" podcast talks with Sarah Longwell_](https://time.com/collection/person-of-the-week-podcast/6563996/sarah-longwell-interview-person-of-the-week/) Many Republicans now find themselves at a similar crossroads. Some may not be as resolute as Longwell. The idea of voting for a Democrat for President, even when the alternative is Trump, makes them skittish. Political partisanship has become as innate as DNA, and switching stripes can feel like a betrayal of self-identity. Trump may be a deviation from party orthodoxy, but denying the party altogether for many can seem like a dereliction that cannot be forgotten. Haley’s most vocal supporters insist she can still deny Trump the delegates he needs. Realistically, the math is almost impossible, as the calendar is about to get a lot more brutal and the rules start to conspire even more aggressively against upstarts. Even with her [win](https://time.com/6837368/nikki-haley-washington-dc-republican-primary/) in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, the delegate math decides the pace this race wraps up more than anything the voters do. Things just seem to be breaking in Trump’s favor. The Supreme Court a day ahead of Super Tuesday [ruled](https://time.com/6837476/supreme-court-donald-trump-ballot-colorado/) states couldn’t [keep](https://time.com/6837636/donald-trump-supreme-court/) Trump off ballots over his role on Jan. 6, 2021\. And it seems more likely by the day that the most serious legal threat to Trump’s viability will [slip](https://time.com/6301429/donald-trump-cases-election-timeline/) beyond the GOP’s July nominating convention and perhaps into the fall—or beyond. The most proximate courtroom drama is one honed on Trump’s hush-money payments to an adult film star, arguably the [least impactful](https://time.com/6264605/trump-critics-stormy-daniels-case-weak/) in voters’ minds. That’s not to say Trump is on a glidepath to victory. Roughly one-in-three voters so far have [said](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/24/south-carolina-gop-primary-trump-haley/) that Trump would not be fit to be President if he’s convicted of a crime, according to exit polls, but it’s not clear fibbing about a relationship with a porn star is truly disqualifying, even if a jury decides it amounted to election interference. Tellingly, 59% of Haley’s voters in South Carolina [said](https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-nikki-haley-south-carolina-primary-2024-gop-presidential-race-60d4544c) they would not vote for Trump in November if he’s the nominee. Trump has told Haley supporters and donors that he doesn’t want their backing, instead preferring party purity over coalition building. It’s a tactic popular in the MAGAverse; Kari Lake [said](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/opinions/kari-lake-mccain-arizona-republicans-gabriel/index.html) during her high-voltage bid for Arizona governor that she would not welcome support from the John McCain wing of the GOP. Lake is currently running for Senate instead of sitting in the Governor’s Office, and it’s pretty clear that her misreading of the late Maverick’s legacy is a big reason why. The number of Haley supporters who refuse to convert to Trumpism may be surprisingly strong if Haley denies Trump her endorsement, as she has recently suggested she might. After all, she has already gone on the record with some of the most brutal critiques of her former boss. Even if much of that group doesn’t go so far as voting for Biden, a decision to stay home is still bad for the GOP. “If somebody who has voted for Trump two times then if they don’t vote for him, that’s still a net negative in his column,” Longwell says. “In an ideal world, they’d vote for a Republican. They don’t have a Republican who is acceptable.” And that’s where Haley’s exit could really matter for not just Trump but also Biden. Haley still sees herself as having a future in the Republican Party, and she might not be seeing mirages. There’s long been the credible case that the nation’s first female President would come from a Republican Party that figures out how to crack the code with suburban moms and college-educated professionals. How Haley navigates her next steps could be pivotal. “I’ve been disappointed with Nikki Haley for the last few years. Her running this cycle, she’s come to understand the Republican Party she joined is not the Republican Party today,” Longwell says. But she is hardly alone in this truth, and plenty of those voters who are holding out hope about Haley were disaffected Republicans in 2020 who ultimately backed Biden. “There’s a chunk of Nikki Haley voters who have already voted for Joe Biden,” she says. Still, it’s going to take some time to deal with the reckoning afoot, one that in 2016 and again in this current cycle claimed plenty of rising political talent. Governors, Senators, diplomats, and activists alike have all been felled by the mercurial MAGA bullies and its chief ringleader. “This is not the Republican Party they joined,” Longwell laments. Nor is it the one where Longwell started her career—or wants it to end. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript Good morning. Just over a year ago. I launch my campaign for president when I began I said the campaign was grounded in my love for our country. Just last week my mother a first-generation immigrant got to vote for her daughter for president only in America. I am filled with gratitude for the outpouring of support we've received from all across our great country. But the time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets and although I will no longer be a candidate. I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in. Our national debt will eventually Crush our economy a smaller federal government is not only necessary for our freedom. It is necessary for our survival. The road to socialism is the road to ruin for America. Our Congress is dysfunctional and only getting worse. It is filled with followers. Not leaders term limits for Washington politicians are needed now more than ever. Our world is on fire because of America's Retreat standing by our allies in Ukraine Israel, and Taiwan is a moral imperative, but it's also more than that. If we Retreat further, there will be more war not less. As important while we stand strong for the cause of Freedom. We must bind together as Americans. We must turn away from the darkness of hatred and Division. I will continue to promote all those values as is the right of every American. I sought the honor of being your president but in our great country being a private citizen is privileged enough in itself. And that's a privilege I very much look forward to enjoying. In all likelihood Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July. I congratulate him and wish him. Well, I wish anyone well, who would be America's president. Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us. I have always been a Conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee. But on this question as she did on so many others Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said quote never just follow the crowd always make up your own mind. It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and Beyond it who did not support him and I hope he does that at its best politics is about bringing people into your cause not turning them away and our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing. I end my campaign with the same words. I began it from The Book of Joshua. I direct them to all Americans but especially to so many of the women and girls out there who put their faith in our campaign. Be strong and courageous do not be afraid do not be discouraged for God will be with you wherever you go in this campaign. I have seen our country's greatness from the bottom of my heart. Thank you America. God bless you. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6852965/donald-trump-nikki-haley-republicans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6852965/donald-trump-nikki-haley-republicans/"},"headline":"‘Never Means Never’: A ‘Never Trump’ Republican on Where the Movement Goes Next","datePublished":"2024-03-06T02:32:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:32.243Z","description":"Never means never,\" says \"Never Trumper\" Sarah Longwell.","url":"https://time.com/6852965/donald-trump-nikki-haley-republicans/","keywords":["The D.C. 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