Nikki Haley campaign shrugs off ‘rigged’ Nevada caucus: ‘Not spent a dime or an ounce of energy’

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has not spent a “dime” on contesting Thursday’s Nevada Republican presidential caucus, her campaign told reporters Monday.

“Nevada is not and has never been our focus,” said campaign manager Betsy Ankney during a press call.

“We have not spent a dime or an ounce of energy on Nevada.”

Haley’s name will be on the ballot in Tuesday’s non-binding GOP primary in the Silver State, making her ineligible to gain any of the 26 delegates up for grabs.

The bizarre dual process came about after the state Republican party objected to a new Nevada law mandating both parties hold primaries rather than caucuses.

Haley, 52, initially registered for the primary ballot when more Republican candidates were in the race — in part to avoid paying the $55,000 caucus registration fee.

Haley’s campaign has also maintained the caucus is “rigged” for GOP front-runner Donald Trump, who has close ties to Republican leadership in the Silver State.

“We made the decision early on that we were not going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a process that was rigged for Trump,” Ankney added, referring to the Nevada Republican Party, before arguing that “caucuses generally tend to benefit Trump, given the fact that he’s the former president.”

Meanwhile, Trump, 77, has flaunted the fact he’s set to gather all the delegates in Nevada, where only long-shot candidate Ryan Binkley is also registered for the caucus.

The 45th president has held several rallies in the state and will hold a caucus watch party to ring in the results Thursday night.

Instead of Nevada, Haley’s campaign is putting most of their resources into South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary.

The former ambassador to the United Nations has done 11 events in her home state since her second-place finish in the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary, Ankney said.

Polls of the first-in-the-South primary show Haley trailing Trump by more than 25 points with under three weeks to go.

Ankney downplayed the grim surveys, saying she would “caution anyone not to read too much into any of the public polling that is out there.”

She argued Haley is the “underdog” in the race but that she has had consistent momentum, with the campaign raising $16.5 million in January.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.