Nikki Haley raises $12 million, says she's not "anti-Trump" as Super Tuesday looms

WASHINGTON — Nikki Haley says she has raised $12 million in February − and has the funds she needs to continue competing in the Republican presidential primary against former President Donald Trump. At least for now.

Haley made the disclosure during a roundtable with reporters before a campaign rally in Washington, D.C., which holds its primary on Sunday.

It's a notable haul but less than she raised in January when she outraised Donald Trump. Her cash flow is a significant factor, as Haley is trailing in most of the Mar. 5 contests. The former South Carolina governor claims she has not made up her mind about whether or not she will continue her campaign after next Tuesday.

Federal documents show that Haley's campaign raised $11.5 million in January, although that amount did not include money that her joint fundraising committee may have taken in. Her campaign said it raised a combined $16.5 million in January in total. The February total that Haley shared on Friday, $12 million, was the total amount, a campaign aide said, and includes political committee money.

It's unclear how much Haley has already spent leading into Super Tuesday.

In the wide-ranging conversation with Haley on the prospects of her candidacy heading into Super Tuesday, when 16 GOP competitions will be held, Haley said the goal of her campaign is to make America a better country, even if it does not end with her winning the GOP nomination. She insisted she and her supporters are not "anti-Trump," and they have been misportrayed as such.

Haley took a softer tone against Trump than she has at recent campaign rallies. It could signal the role she hopes to play in the Republican Party and a potential endorsement of the former president if she suspends her campaign.

She said that despite the "smoke signals" that No Labels is sending up about having her lead a third-party ticket, she is not interested in having a Democratic vice president.

"In all the narrative, everybody pretty much assumes that this is an anti-Trump movement. And it's actually not," Haley told reporters.

More: Who are the top contributors to Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Nikki Haley's campaigns?

More: These Republicans think Donald Trump is a 'threat.' Who will they vote for in 2024 and beyond?

Haley said her supporters want a return to see a return to fiscal discipline in Congress and younger leaders than the two major political parties are putting forward. "These crowds are not anti-Trump crowds," she said. "They want someone new. They want something different. They want something to be hopeful about."

Haley blamed the news media for the failure of her message to resonate with more Republican voters, saying bluntly to reporters: "All of you have made this race about Trump. You haven't made it about a primary, you haven't made it about the direction of the country. You've just made it about Trump."

"I'm not anti-Trump," Haley, a former Trump administration official, added. "This is about the fact that I think America is better than this. And I think that the Republican Party is better than this, and I think we can do more than this."

She said she wanted the campaign conversation to be about the direction of the GOP and the county, not about Trump. "If I was doing that, I would be Chris Christie. Chris Christie was anti-Trump. I'm pro-America."

More: Which states vote on Super Tuesday? What to know ahead of the presidential primaries

The former New Jersey governor dropped out in January before a single contest was held after polling in the single digits against Trump nationally.

On Friday, Haley declined to say who should be the face of that movement in the U.S. Senate, where longtime Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he will step down from his leadership post at the end of the year.

Like McConnell, Haley supports Senate-passed legislation that includes robust funding for Israel and Ukraine. She has been critical of Trump's push to get lawmakers to hold off on passing a national security spending package that includes money for the southern border until after the November general election.She said Friday that Republican lawmakers are doing what they think "they need to do to win" but that under Trump's leadership, the GOP is losing races up and down the ballot across the country.

"I'm not looking at any one person or having a favorite or anything," she said of a McConnell replacement. "What I want to see is a leader who's going to be focused on America and results for the American people, not rewarding people for peacocking on TV, but rewarding people for results and actually getting things done for the American people."

Minding her money

Haley says she is stretching her funds. She flew commercial for much of her campaign and stayed in budget hotels. Some of them were "gross places," she said.

"We're going to continue to stretch," she said. "We're a lean, mean operation."

The ebbing fundraising means she can't spend as much on TV as she could in early states — where she put a combined $10 million into advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire and $6 million into commercials in South Carolina. She has to switch to national cable advertising to juice the vote in states holding their contests this week. Her campaign says it spending seven figures on the ads and has declined to be more specific.

She has not announced events beyond Monday. Haley contended, as she has over the last few weeks, that she is not looking beyond next Tuesday to the next set of contests and has not decided if she will quit the race.

"I don't look all the way down the road," Haley said. "My approach has been as long as we're competitive."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Haley says she's not 'anti-Trump,' raises $12M as Super Tuesday looms,