An Illinois state judge on Wednesday barred Donald Trump from appearing on the Illinois’ Republican presidential primary ballot because of his role in the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but she delayed her ruling from taking effect in light of an expected appeal by the former U.S president.
Haley is clearly staying in for the likely reality that Trump is found guilty and the small chance that the Republican party chooses not to have a convicted federal criminal as their candidate. She knows based on the numbers she has no shot, but she’s angling to stay in so she can swoop in when Trump is disqualified.
How likely that is to happen to up to interpretation, but it’s pretty clear at this point that’s Haley’s game plan.
And because Trump is old and unhealthy and could pass away
Also possibilities: -Trump passes away -Trump leaves the country -Trump runs but loses, and Haley gets “told you so” status as the GOP likely tosses Trump under the bus for delivering so many consecutive losses (2018, his own in 2020, and to some extent the weak 2022 performance can be attributed to his election denial and the party rallying behind that). If the GOP loses in 2024, then I could easily see the party decide they must go ‘beyond Trump’, and politicians that consistently looked ‘anti-Trump’ may be in a strong position in that scenario.
Seeing as she is in her early 50s, which is downright an infant by the standards of the presidential race, she can afford to run a long game of prepping for a likely 2028 race.
Of course if Trump wins in 2024, her political career won’t go anywhere, but it’s a fair bet to plan for the contingency of him losing.