When Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley exited the race earlier this month after Super Tuesday, Donald Trump effectively told her supporters to take a hike. 

Shortly after her announcement, Trump bragged about trouncing her in a mistimed Truth Social post, adding, "At this point, I hope she stays in the 'race' and fights it out until the end!"

Many Haley supporters appear to have taken Trump literally, based on his lackluster performance in the latest Republican primaries.

Despite effectively being a lock for the nomination now, Trump struggled to break 80% in all five GOP primary contests held Tuesday:

• Arizona: 77.9% (80% of ballots counted).

• Florida: 81.2% (95% of ballots counted).

• Illinois: 80.7% (93% of ballots counted).

• Kansas: 75.5% (95% of ballots counted).

• Ohio: 79.2% (95% of ballots counted).

Haley generally attracted around 15% of the vote, give or take several points, with Florida being the low-water mark at 13.9% at the time of this writing. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who dropped out in January immediately after the Iowa caucuses, won several points here and there. 

Added together, the Haley-DeSantis cohort represents about 20% of Republican voters who, despite knowing Trump already has the delegates to secure the nomination, were motivated enough to cast a protest vote. In Kansas, Haley captured 16.1% while a category called "None of the Names Shown" won 5% of the vote.

But the worst of it for Trump was in Arizona, a critical swing state, where the GOP standard-bearer still hadn't broken 80% at the time of this writing.

• Trump: 77.9%

• Haley: 18.7%

• DeSantis: 1.6%

President Joe Biden, by comparison, hovered around 90% in the Democratic states that held contests Tuesday, including Arizona, where he’d won 89.5% of the vote (with 84% of ballots counted) at the time of this writing. 

Haley voters have proven to be a thorn in Trump's side throughout the contest, and her Arizona showing is yet another pesky data point for the Trump campaign.

On election night in 2020, Arizona posed the first roadblock to Trump reaching the 270 electoral votes he needed to win reelection when Fox News made the early (and ultimately correct) call that Biden won the state, flipping it for the first time since 1996.

Still, Biden secured the state by less than half a point, beating Trump by just 10,457 votes. The fact that Trump still hasn't succeeded in unifying the Republican coalition is a massive problem for him in the general election but particularly in Arizona, a must-win state for any Republican nominee.

With any luck, Haley's continued vote share will enrage him enough to take a few more potshots at her before locking up the nomination.

Republished with permission from Daily Kos.