Haley says Trump can’t ‘bully’ his way to party’s nomination

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump wants to “bully” his way to the Republican presidential nomination, his sole remaining challenger Nikki Haley said on Sunday, as she accused the party leadership of seeking to declare him the nominee prematurely.

Haley lost the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary but has vowed to stay in the contest, despite Trump´s insistence -- backed by some top Republican Party leaders -- that the race is over.

“He can´t bully his way through the nomination,” Haley said on NBC´s “Meet the Press.”

Haley noted that the nominating process was still in its earliest stages -- Republicans have voted only in Iowa and New Hampshire so far -- and suggested that Trump had pressured the Republican National Committee (RNC) to back him much too soon.

“You can´t do that based on just two states,” she said.

The former South Carolina governor took particular aim at the RNC for throwing the national party´s support -- and resources -- behind Trump soon after the New Hampshire vote.

The voters´ will was “very clear,” RNC chair Ronna McDaniel told Fox News on Tuesday. “We need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump.”

But with 48 states yet to vote, Haley told NBC, “I don´t think this is the place of the RNC... I think that Trump overstepped when he pushed them to do it.”