‘Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will be voting for Trump,’ she said in her first public appearance after dropping out of the 2024 race.
WASHINGTON—After months of declining to endorse her former boss, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced on May 22 that she will be voting for former President Donald Trump.
“I put my priorities on a president who’s going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account, who would secure the border,” she said during a conversation at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank where she is now the Walter P. Stern Chair.
It was Ms. Haley’s first public appearance since suspending her presidential campaign in March.
“No more excuses,” she said. “A president who would support capitalism and freedom. A president who understands we need less debt, not more debt. Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I’ve made that clear many, many times.
“But Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will be voting for Trump.”
Nonetheless, Ms. Haley reiterated a key point that she made in her March speech announcing the end of her campaign.
“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,” she said. “And I genuinely hope he does that.”
President Trump has said that Ms. Haley is not under consideration to be his running mate but that he wishes “her well.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who was the first member of Congress and one of the few lawmakers to endorse Ms. Haley, celebrated Ms. Haley’s coming out in support of President Trump.
“Great news. I’m excited about what she’s doing,” he told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Norman said he has been telling President Trump to pick Ms. Haley as his running mate because, despite suspending her campaign, Ms. Haley has continued to amass a sizable portion of votes in the GOP primaries, especially in key states such as Michigan.