MEG KINNARD

National politics reporter

Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina.

FILE - Former President Donald Trump, left, speaks at a campaign event as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., looks on Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. The long and occasionally quixotic relationship between Trump and Graham has turned negative once more after the South Carolina senator criticized Trump's refusal to support a federal abortion ban. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham are again at odds, now over abortion. The strife could help both men

The relationship between Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham has again turned negative after the South Carolina senator criticized Trump for refusing to support a federal abortion ban.

Former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives for a GOP fundraiser, Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Trump declines to endorse a national abortion ban. He says limits should be left to the states

Former President Donald Trump has declined to endorse a national abortion ban and says he believes abortion should be left to the states. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee released a video outlining his position Monday.

FILE - Voters fill out their ballots at a polling place, Feb. 29, 2020, in Charleston, S.C. A federal court ruled Thursday, March 28, 2024, that this year's congressional elections in South Carolina will be held under a map that it had already deemed unconstitutional and discriminatory against Black voters, with time running out ahead of voting deadlines, and the lack of a decision by the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

South Carolina to hold 2024 congressional elections with map previously ruled unconstitutional

A federal court has ruled that congressional elections in South Carolina will be held under a map that it had previously deemed unconstitutional and discriminatory against Black voters.

Nicole Shanahan waves from the podium during a campaign event for Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. Shanahan has been picked as Kennedy Jr.'s running mate. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Who is Nicole Shanahan, the philanthropist picked by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his running mate?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has picked a California lawyer and philanthropist who’s never held elected office to be his running mate in his independent bid for president. Kennedy announced Nicole Shanahan as his choice on Tuesday in Oakland.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event, Jan. 14, 2024, in Adel, Iowa. Haley's base of voters and donors was never big enough to seriously challenge Donald Trump. But her supporters are still splintered weeks after she dropped out of the GOP primary. If that holds, it could hurt Trump's general election chances. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

Some Republicans who supported Nikki Haley are still refusing to back Donald Trump

Nikki Haley’s base of voters and donors was never big enough to seriously challenge Donald Trump. But her supporters are still splintered weeks after she dropped out of the GOP primary. If that holds, it could hurt Trump’s general election chances.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. right, waves on stage with Nicole Shanahan, after announcing her as his running mate, during a campaign event, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. picks Nicole Shanahan as his running mate for his independent White House bid

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen Nicole Shanahan to be his vice presidential pick. Kennedy is mounting an independent White House bid that has spooked national Democrats.

Israeli soldiers drive a tank on the border with Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, praises ‘very valuable’ potential of Gaza’s ‘waterfront property’

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s former White House adviser and his son-in-law, praised the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property.”

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at a campaign rally Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Trump ramps up dark rhetoric in Ohio stump speech for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno

Former President Donald Trump claimed that he — not President Joe Biden — will protect Social Security and warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses in November as he campaigned for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio.

FILE - In this combination of photos, President Joe Biden, left, speaks on Aug. 10, 2023, in Salt Lake City, and former President Donald Trump speaks on June 13, 2023, in Bedminster, N.J. The sequel to the 2020 election is officially set as the president and his immediate predecessor secured their parties' nominations. Biden and Trump have set up a political movie the country has seen before — even if the last version was in black and white. (AP Photo, File)

Biden and Trump are now their parties’ presumptive nominees. What does that mean? test

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have officially secured the requisite numbers of delegates to be considered their parties’ presumptive nominees.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Nikki Haley suspends her campaign and leaves Donald Trump as the last major Republican candidate

Nikki Haley has suspended her presidential campaign. Haley did not endorse former President Donald Trump on Wednesday and called on him to bring people into the conservative cause.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley poses for a selfie after speaking at a campaign event in South Burlington, Vermont, Sunday, March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Nikki Haley wins the District of Columbia’s Republican primary and gets her first 2024 victory

Nikki Haley has won the District of Columbia’s Republican primary. It’s her first victory over Donald Trump in the GOP primary race. The Associated Press declared Haley the winner Sunday night after D.C.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event Feb. 28, 2024, in Orem, Utah. Haley is making the case that roughly 40% of GOP voters support her over their party's dominant figure, suggesting Trump is especially vulnerable in a November rematch against President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Nikki Haley can’t win the Republican primary with 40%. But she can expose some of Trump’s weaknesses

Donald Trump’s campaign has vowed not to talk about her anymore, but Nikki Haley is still campaigning across the country — and plenty of Republican voters are coming to hear what she has to say.

Republican presidential candidate and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, in Troy, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Off to Michigan, Haley is staying in the race despite Trump’s easy primary win in South Carolina

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says it’s not “the end of our story” despite Donald Trump’s easy primary victory in South Carolina. Haley had long suggested that her home state would show her competitiveness with the former president.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump reacts at a primary election night party at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump wins South Carolina, easily beating Haley in her home state and closing in on GOP nomination

Donald Trump has won South Carolina’s Republican primary, beating his last major rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in her home state.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Rock Hill, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Ahead of South Carolina primary, Trump says he strongly supports IVF after Alabama court ruling

Former President Donald Trump says he would “strongly support the availability” of in vitro fertilization for couples and women who are trying to have a baby.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley smiles as she's introduced at a campaign rally on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Nikki Haley hasn’t yet won a GOP contest. But she’s vowing to keep fighting Donald Trump

Nikki Haley’s allies are bracing for a big loss in her home state’s primary election in South Carolina this week. And there are no primary wins on the horizon in other states either.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event on Feb. 19, 2024, in Camden, S.C. Haley has sharpened her attacks on former President Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner, as the two prepare to face off in South Carolina's Republican primary on Feb. 24. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Nikki Haley is sharpening contrasts with Donald Trump in the South Carolina primary’s closing days

Nikki Haley is using the closing days of the South Carolina GOP primary matchup with Donald Trump to hone her argument that she is the lone remaining candidate who can unite Americans.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks to supporters at a campaign event at the Summerville Country Club, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Summerville, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Nikki Haley’s request for Secret Service protection one step away from final approval

Top congressional leaders have recommended that Nikki Haley receive protection from the U.S. Secret Service after she reported a growing number of threats during her 2024 presidential campaign. That’s according to, a person familiar with the matter.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, S.C., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

Donald Trump stands by remarks about not defending NATO members after backlash

Former President Donald Trump is defending saying he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that don’t meet defense spending targets days after his comments set off alarm in the U.S. and among its allies.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at an event on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in her hometown of Bamberg, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Nikki Haley stumps in her small hometown of Bamberg ahead of South Carolina’s GOP primary

Nikki Haley has made a campaign stop Tuesday in her hometown of Bamberg, a reliably Democratic rural town that she has described as instrumental to the values that guide her presidential bid, as well as a place where she and her family experienced discrimination.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Newberry, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Haley challenges Trump on her home turf in South Carolina as the Republican primary looms

With two weeks to go before the South Carolina Republican primary, Nikki Haley is trying to challenge Donald Trump on her home turf while the former president tries to quash his last major rival’s narrow path to the nomination.

Will Lester, a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, is photographed in September 1998, in Washington. Lester, a longtime reporter and editor for The Associated Press, who played a critical role in the wire service's 2000 election-night decision not to call the presidential race, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. He was 71. (AP Photo)

Will Lester, longtime AP journalist in South Carolina, Florida and Washington, dies at age 71

Will Lester, a longtime reporter and editor for The Associated Press who played a critical role in the wire service’s 2000 election-night decision not to call the presidential race, has died. He was 71.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Spartanburg, S.C., Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Haley is launching a bus tour ahead of South Carolina’s Feb. 24 Republican presidential primary, hoping that the two-week endeavor will show the former governor’s commitment to her home state ahead of its first-in-the-South vote. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

Haley plans a two-week bus tour before South Carolina’s GOP primary as Trump returns to the state

Nikki Haley is launching a bus tour before South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary on Feb. 24. The former governor is hoping the two-week push will show her commitment to her home state heading into the first-in-the-South vote.

President Joe Biden waits to speak at the Biden campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden wins South Carolina’s Democratic primary as he gears up for his reelection bid

President Joe Biden has won South Carolina’s Democratic primary, notching a victory in the state that he pushed to lead the party’s nominating calendar.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Conway, S.C., Jan. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Kelley, File)

Nikki Haley has called out prejudice but rejected talk of systemic racism throughout her career

Nikki Haley’s messages on race are sometimes contradictory. Throughout her career, the Republican presidential candidate has generally called out acts of individual prejudice and the people responsible.

President Joe Biden speaks at the First in the Nation Celebration held by the South Carolina Democratic Party at the State Fairgrounds, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.)

Biden offers fresh assurances he would shut down border ‘right now’ if Congress sends him a deal

President Joe Biden is bidding to salvage a border deal in Congress that also would unlock money for Ukraine. He’s offering fresh assurances that he would be willing to close the U.S.-Mexico border if lawmakers would only send him a bill to sign.

President Joe Biden speaks at South Carolina's First in the Nation dinner at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Biden returns to South Carolina to show his determination to win back Black voters in 2024

President Joe Biden is spending the weekend in South Carolina, intent on driving home two messages: He’s loyal to the state that saved his campaign in 2020 and he’s determined to win back Black voters here and elsewhere who were central to his election last time but are less enthused this go-round.

President Joe Biden walks with Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., during U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson's wake at Concord Church in Dallas on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. Johnson, a trailblazing North Texas Democrat who served 15 terms in Congress, died on Dec. 31. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Pro-Biden super PAC launches ad featuring Rep. Clyburn ahead of South Carolina’s lead-off primary

A super political action committee supporting President Joe Biden’s reelection is aiming to boost the Democrat’s primary campaign in lead-off South Carolina with a television ad featuring Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event at The North Charleston Coliseum, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

Despite 2 losses, Nikki Haley tries to claim victory thus far in the Republican presidential race

Nikki Haley is trying to frame her Iowa and New Hampshire losses to Donald Trump as a victory. She has vowed to head off a “coronation” of Trump as the 2024 Republican nominee.

FILE - Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, May 24, 2023. Donald Trump has picked up another endorsement from Nikki Haley’s home state of South Carolina, with Rep. Nancy Mace backing the former president in this year’s GOP presidential primary. Mace had stayed out of the 2024 Republican primary as fellow South Carolinians Haley and Sen. Tim Scott entered the race last year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina backs Donald Trump over Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican primary

Nikki Haley says she is not worried that Donald Trump has picked up another endorsement from her home state of South Carolina. Rep.