House Republicans urge Donald Trump and Nikki Haley supporters to make amends and dump ‘middle school popularity contest,’ question whether congressional tumult will stand in the way of victory

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump all but locked up the GOP nomination for president, forcing out his last major opponent Nikki Haley.

Yet Haley still received nearly a quarter of the votes from states that had primaries on Super Tuesday.

While there were few states where the competition was close — except Vermont, which Haley won — her voters could be enough to sway the race in November, depending on where they turn next.

She won 29 percent in Minnesota, 23 percent in North Carolina and 26 percent in Maine — all states up for grabs by both parties in November.

Will her voters fall into the “never Trump” camp and flock to President Joe Biden or a third-party candidate — or will Trump be able to bring them back into the fold?

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump all but locked up the GOP nomination for president, forcing out his last major opponent Nikki Haley

Republicans in the House of Representatives — many of whom are banking on retaining a majority in the House after months of chaos — appear largely confident that Trump and Haley will make amends and unite their supporters.

“I’m not concerned,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Haley’s only endorsement in the House of Representatives, told DailyMail.com. “I think he will win over her supporters.”

“Those people are obviously going to go to President Trump and the polls show we’re going to be pretty united.”

Recent Quinnipiac polls show that about half of Haley supporters would vote for Trump and half said they would either vote for Biden (37 percent), abstain or vote for someone else (12 percent).

After Haley’s unimpressive performance Tuesday, Trump gloated that she had been “downtrodden” and did little to appeal to her support, who has largely disdained such rhetoric.

“Nikki Haley was RIPPED last night at a record level, despite the Democrats, for unknown reasons, being allowed to vote in Vermont and several other Republican primaries,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Right now I hope she stays in the ‘race’ and fights it out to the end!” he wrote, adding that “much of her money came from radical left Democrats, as did many of her voters.”

“I’m not concerned,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Haley’s only endorsement in the House of Representatives, told DailyMail.com. ‘I think he will win her supporters’

The Biden campaign seized the moment and extended an olive branch to supporters of the former U.N. ambassador and governor in a statement from the president.

“Donald Trump has made it clear that he does not want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: there is a place for them in my campaign.”

“I know there’s a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, standing up for the rule of law, treating each other with respect, preserving NATO, and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground . ‘

Haley also declined to endorse the former president after she was out of the running on Wednesday.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and those outside of it to support him,” Haley said in brief remarks in her home state of South Carolina. “I hope he does.”

After Haley dropped out, Trump invited her supporters “to join the greatest movement in our nation’s history,” reminding them, “BIDEN IS THE ENEMY.”

“There are people who say they are Republicans and conservatives, but they are never Trump,” Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., told DailyMail.com. “They have to overcome the high school popularity contest.”

‘Is every person perfect? No. But don’t never be this or that.’

Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., told DailyMail.com that it is time for Trump to reach out and bring Haley’s supporters to justice.

“After any kind of divisive primary, you have to reach out to your opponents’ supporters and say, ‘Listen, we all have the same goal and that is to try to counter the Biden’s failed policies. We may not agree on each other’s positions, but we do agree that President Biden is failing, that the nation is indeed in decline.”

But Republicans have their own battles in the House of Representatives, and it’s possible the turmoil of this Congress will affect their chances for control.

“That’s a great question,” said Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas. “We’d like to be a reality TV show…I wish we weren’t like that. I respect the Democratic Party, they keep it behind closed doors and when they come out, it’s a united front.”

‘We are very neighborhood-oriented. We’ll see how the November elections go.”

Republicans currently hold one of the smallest majorities in recent history and can lose just two votes and still pass legislation along party lines.