Former Trump Aide Says Republicans Happy to 'Lose With Trump'

Former Donald Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin on Thursday said that Republicans are so devoted to the ex-president, they would rather lose the 2024 election to President Joe Biden than win with GOP challenger Nikki Haley.

Farah Griffin said during a CNN appearance on Thursday night that Republican voters believe in "a different set of facts" and would "honestly rather risk losing with Trump than winning with Nikki Haley" in November.

The Context

Farah Griffin served as Trump's White House director of strategic communications from April to December 2020, but has since become one of the ex-president's most outspoken critics. She has openly expressed support for Haley's rival candidacy on more than one occasion.

Haley, also a former Trump administration official, is the last remaining major GOP primary challenger to the former president. After losing the first two contests of the 2024 presidential primary season, she declared during a Fox News interview on Thursday that she does not "need to win" her home state of South Carolina to remain in the race.

While polls show that Trump remains the clear favorite among Republican primary voters for the GOP nomination, polling also suggests that Haley stands a significantly better chance of defeating Biden in November.

What We Know

Farah Griffin described Haley's lack of popularity among Republican primary voters in the face of her chances in the general election "the conundrum of this race for Republicans."

"The problem is the right lives in this media ecosystem where they just believe a different set of facts," Farah Griffin said. "If you surround yourself with folks just consistently saying, 'Trump is the best fighter, he's the most capable,' and you've got all these congressional endorsements saying that as well, I think voters start to believe it."

"And they'd honestly rather risk losing with Trump than winning with Nikki Haley," she continued. "His rock-solid hold on the Republican Party feels unbreakable, despite the fact that Nikki Haley is hands down a better candidate."

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Thursday night.

Views

Haley said on Thursday that she would continue her challenge to Trump even if she loses the February 24 primary in South Carolina because Republicans "need to win" and "will lose if Donald Trump is our nominee."

The former South Carolina governor went on to say that Trump "can't win" independent voters, suburban women and "a lot of other Republicans." She pointed out that Republicans "lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president," calling the record "nothing to be proud of."

Trump continues to claim—despite the lack of evidence—that he "won" the 2020 election despite losing by more than 7 million popular votes. He reacted to Fox News host Brit Hume suggesting that he was a "loser" last year by insisting that he "didn't" lose to Biden because "the Election was Rigged."

What's Next?

While a November rematch between Trump and Biden looks likely, there is still a long road ahead before the Republican nomination is finalized. Haley pointed out on Thursday that Trump has secured 32 GOP delegates, while she has 17 out of the 1,215 delegates required for the nomination.

A poll released by CNN on Thursday found that Trump had a 4-point lead over Biden—an advantage nearly erased by the poll's 3.4 percent margin of error—compared to a 13-point lead over the president for Haley.

Regardless, 70 percent of Republicans favored Trump as their candidate, with only 3 percent citing the possibility that he "will lose" as their "biggest concern" about the former president.