Election 2024: Nikki Haley faces a key decision on whether or not to endorse Trump

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley is perhaps the highest-profile Republican in the nation who has refused to fall in line and endorse Donald Trump’s presidential bid.

It’s unclear how long that might last.

Some allies believe she may be forced to endorse him before the November election to avoid permanently alienating the Republican Party base. Some even suspect that Haley will re-emerge on Trump’s short list of vice presidential contenders in the coming months, despite Trump’s recent statement to the contrary.

But if Haley submits to Trump, as so many of his GOP critics have done, she also risks destroying her own coalition of independents, moderates and anti-Trump Republicans, who are still showing up to support her in low-profile primary contests from deep-red Indiana to deep-blue Maryland. On Tuesday, she gets another chance to demonstrate her sustained strength in Kentucky’s presidential primary contest, which comes more than two months after she suspended her campaign.