Former President Donald Trump said his lone Republican presidential challenger Nikki Haley didn't know how to exit the race.
Trump made his remarks during a Tuesday night town hall hosted by Fox News' Laura Ingraham in Greenville, South Carolina.
Ingraham opened the discussion by noting Trump was leading Haley by nearly 30 points, according to a recent Suffolk University poll.
The Fox News host then played a clip from Haley's Tuesday press conference in which she said she had "settled" rumors that she was stumping to be Trump's running mate.
"I settled it about three months ago," Trump quipped. "She’s not working. She’s here. She’s down by 30, 35 points. And everybody knows her. You’re not supposed to lose your home state, shouldn’t happen anyway. And she’s losing it bigly."
Trump then lauded his performance in the Iowa caucus last month.
Ingraham asked the former president why Haley had not exited the race despite Trump's dominating victory over her in the previous three state primaries.
"I don't think she knows how to get out," he responded. "I really don't. She did terribly in New Hampshire, the only votes she got were from Democrats."
The Fox News host noted Haley had influential financiers backing her campaign, which Trump suggested was an effort to hurt his chances at re-election in the general election.
"She just can't get herself to get out," he continued. "If she was doing well, I'd understand it. But she's doing very poorly."
Trump recounted his commanding victories over Haley in the subsequent primary votes in New Hampshire and Nevada.
Haley notably lost to voters who chose "none of these candidates" in the Nevada primary earlier this month by a margin of nearly 30 points.
Trump and Haley will face off in her home state of South Carolina this Saturday.
Earlier Tuesday, Haley, a South Carolina native, held a press conference and insisted she would not drop out of the race regardless of the primary's outcome.
“In politics, the herd mentality is enormously strong,” Haley said. “A lot of Republican politicians have surrendered to it. The pressure on them is way too much. They didn’t want to be left out of the club.”
“I refuse to quit,” she added. “South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for President. I’m not going anywhere.”
According to RealClearPolitics, Trump holds a dominating 57.8-point advantage over Haley.
