Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is trailing former President Trump by a whopping 23 points in her home state of South Carolina with just four days to go before the state's make-or-break GOP primary. The Emerson College/The Hill poll of Republican voters shows Haley at 35 percent to Trump's 58 percent with 7 percent undecided. With undecided voters accounted for, Trump's support reaches 61 percent to Haley's 39 percent.

'South Carolina holds an open primary; there is a divide among Republican and independent affiliated voters,' said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. He said voters who affiliate as Republicans break for Trump over Haley while voters who affiliate as independent break for Haley. It is the latest in a series of polls that have shown Trump with a crushing lead ahead of the first primary of the south. A separate USA Today/Suffolk poll on Tuesday had Trump 28 points ahead at 63 percent to Haley's 35 percent among GOP primary voters.

Trump's crushing lead shows a series of recent controversial comments from the former president about NATO , comparing himself on Truth Social to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny right after his death and claiming Haley's husband, who is serving overseas, is 'missing' has not hurt Trump with primary voters in the Palmetto State.

Haley has been hopscotching the state this week with a series of campaign events in the final drive before voters head to the polls on Saturday. She has used her closing argument to highlight her differences with her former boss.

After Trump said at a South Carolina rally he would encourage Russia to do 'whatever the hell they want' to any NATO member country that does not meet spending guidelines, Haley said she would put the pressure on NATO countries but behind closed doors. She has also slammed the former president as he faces mounting legal debts, arguing he will spend more time in a courtroom than on the campaign trail this year and chaos follows him.

Last week, a judge ordered Trump pay more than $350 million in his New York civil fraud case. He heads to trial for a criminal case in connection with hush money payments later next month, making him the first former president to stand trial on criminal charges. While Haley previously served as governor of South Carolina, Trump has the backing of current governor Henry McMaster as well as Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.

Scott, who dropped out of the GOP presidential race in November, told Fox News on Monday that he could feel the 'desperation' coming off his former ally's campaign and called on Haley to end her White House bid. 'Sometimes you wake on Monday morning and you realize that the race is already gone. The best thing you can do is within 24 hours is to get out the way,' Scott said.

'When you feel that kind of desperation, that means the race is already over,' Scott said of her campaign. But Haley has campaign events scheduled throughout the rest of the week across the state and has vowed to stay in the race through Super Tuesday in her long-shot bid for the Republican nomination.

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