Chapin, SC – In Major Blow To Bush, SC Gov. Haley Backs Rubio

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    South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (L) and U.S. Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio react on stage during a campaign event in Chapin, South Carolina February 17, 2016. Haley announced her endorsement of Rubio for the Republican presidential nomination. REUTERS/Chris KeaneChapin, SC – South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, viewed in Republican circles as a possible U.S. vice presidential candidate, endorsed U.S. Senator Marco Rubio for their party’s 2016 White House nomination on Wednesday, three days before her state’s presidential primary.

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    The popular governor said she was tasked with identifying the best candidate as she surveyed the crowded GOP field.

    “If we elect Marco Rubio, every day will be a great day in America,” she said alongside the Florida senator during an evening rally in suburban Columbia.

    The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley, 44, seized the spotlight in January when in the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech she set herself apart from the party’s presidential candidates by calling for tolerance on immigration and civility in politics.

    Last year she gained national attention by leading an effort to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state Capitol grounds after the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston. The Civil War-era emblem of the Confederate South is long associated with slavery.

    Haley’s endorsement was a major setback for Bush in particular, who told NBC News on Monday that “she is the probably the most meaningful endorsement if there is” one in the state.

    A campaign aide to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said Haley called Bush, also vying for the party nomination, to inform him of her plan to endorse Rubio.

    “Disappointed” was Bush’s response to the endorsement. “She’s a very good governor and should I win the nomination, there’ll be a role for her in the campaign,” Bush, 63, told reporters after a campaign event in Summerville, South Carolina. “Trust me, she’s a great person.”

    Haley’s endorsement of Rubio was a blow to Bush, coming two days after Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush, met with Haley privately in the state capital Columbia.


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