Current:Home > NewsNikki Haley says she will vote for Donald Trump following their disputes during Republican primary-LoTradeCoin
Nikki Haley says she will vote for Donald Trump following their disputes during Republican primary
View Date:2025-01-11 13:52:25
Nikki Haley said Wednesday that she will be voting for Donald Trump in the general election, a notable show of support given their intense and often personal rivalry during the Republican primary calendar.
But Haley also made it clear that she feels Trump has work to do to win over voters who supported her during the course of the primary campaign and continue to cast votes for her in ongoing primary contests.
“I will be voting for Trump,” Haley, Trump’s former U.N. ambassador, said during an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
“Having said that, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech,” Haley added. “Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me and not assume that they’re just going to be with him. And I genuinely hope he does that.”
The comments in her first public speech since leaving the race are another signal of the GOP’s virtually complete consolidation of support behind Trump, even from those who have labeled him a threat in the past.
Haley shuttered her own bid for the GOP nomination two months ago but did not immediately endorse Trump, having accused him of causing chaos and disregarding the importance of U.S. alliances abroad as well as questioning whether Trump, 77, was too old to be president again.
Trump, in turn, repeatedly mocked her with the nickname “Birdbrain,” though he curtailed those attacks after securing enough delegates in March to become the presumptive Republican nominee.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Haley’s announcement.
President Joe Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, has been working to win over her supporters, whom they view as true swing voters. Biden’s team is quietly organizing a Republicans for Biden group, which will eventually include dedicated staff and focus on the hundreds of thousands of Haley voters in each battleground state, according to people familiar with the plans but not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Despite Haley’s announcement Wednesday, the Biden campaign made it clear they would continue to court voters who backed her in Republican primaries this year.
“Nothing has changed for the millions of Republican voters who continue to cast their ballots against Donald Trump in the primaries and care deeply about the future of our democracy, standing strong with our allies against foreign adversaries, and working across the aisle to get things done for the American people — while also rejecting the chaos, division and violence that Donald Trump embodies,” Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director, said in a statement. “Only one candidate shares those values, and only one campaign is working hard every day to earn their support — and that’s President Biden’s.”
Meanwhile, Haley made several criticisms of Biden’s foreign policy and handling of the U.S.-Mexico border in her speech Wednesday at the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington think tank she recently joined as she reemerges in the political realm.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Democracy: American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. More challenges lie ahead in 2024.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
- Read the latest: Follow AP’s complete coverage of this year’s election.
Earlier this month, Haley huddled in South Carolina with some of her donors, an event characterized as a “thank you” to her top supporters and not a discussion about Haley’s future political plans or intended to push her backers toward any other candidate.
If she runs for president again, Haley will likely need to win over former Trump supporters in a Republican primary. But her support for him now risks offending moderates and anti-Trump conservatives.
___
Jill Colvin in New York and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed reporting.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
veryGood! (9876)
Related
- Former West Virginia jail officer pleads guilty to civil rights violation in fatal assault on inmate
- Biden Administration Pressed to Act on Federal Contractor Climate Disclosure
- Wisconsin Senate’s longest-serving member will not seek reelection
- A judge blocks the demolition of a groundbreaking Iowa art installation
- More human remains from Philadelphia’s 1985 MOVE bombing have been found at a museum
- Norfolk Southern agrees to pay $600 million for East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment
- Google brings the total solar eclipse to your screen: Here's how to see it
- Books most challenged in 2023 centered on LGBTQ themes, library organization says
- Burger King's 'Million Dollar Whopper' finalists: How to try and vote on your favorite
- Detroit-area landlord to pay $190K to settle claims of sexual harassment against women
Ranking
- Patricia Heaton criticizes media, 'extremists' she says 'fear-mongered' in 2024 election
- Horoscopes Today, April 7, 2024
- Great hair day: Gene Keady showed Purdue basketball spirit in his hair for Final Four
- 'American Idol' recap: Jelly Roll cries as he grieves with teen contestant Mia Matthews
- Richard Allen found guilty in the murders of two teens in Delphi, Indiana. What now?
- Tesla settles lawsuit over California crash involving autopilot that killed Apple engineer
- ‘Civil War’ might be the year’s most explosive movie. Alex Garland thinks it’s just reporting
- ‘Civil War’ might be the year’s most explosive movie. Alex Garland thinks it’s just reporting
Recommendation
-
Hurricane forecasters on alert: November storm could head for Florida
-
Kim and Khloe Kardashian’s Daughters North and True Are All Grown Up in Vacation Photos
-
Across the US, Awe Unites During the Darkness of a Total Solar Eclipse
-
Mexican police find 7 bodies, 5 of them decapitated, inside a car with messages detailing the reason they were killed
-
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Red Velvet, Please
-
UConn wins NCAA men's basketball tournament, defeating Purdue 75-60
-
'Romeo & Juliet' director slams 'barrage of racial abuse' toward star Francesca Amewudah-Rivers
-
Prosecutors say evidence was suppressed in case of Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio