Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley gave her “strong endorsement” to former President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday evening.
Haley was a last-minute addition to the RNC’s lineup, with the announcement that she would attend coming a day after Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt at a Saturday campaign rally in western Pennsylvania. Last week, Haley, who was Trump’s last major Republican opponent in the 2024 presidential race, directed her delegates to support Trump and called for unity.
“President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity. It was a gracious invitation and I was happy to accept. I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” Haley said upon taking the stage.
.@NikkiHaley endorses Donald Trump for President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/20gxiTfnBM
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 17, 2024
Haley’s endorsement received thunderous applause at the convention, with the crowd chanting Trump’s name in response. Haley then directed her message at those voters skeptical of Trump, a contingent she was seen to represent late in the Republican primary.
“My message to them is simple. You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him,” Haley said. “I haven’t always agreed with President Trump, but we agree more often than we disagree.”
“We agree on keeping America strong. We agree on keeping America safe. And we agree that Democrats have moved so far to the Left that they’re putting our freedoms in danger,” she continued. “We have a country to save, and a unified Republican Party is essential for saving her.”
Haley’s endorsement came alongside a speech by another major primary opponent of Trump: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The speeches by Trump’s former opponents rallying around the former president for a second term in the White House contrasts starkly with the divisions that have exploded among Democrats in recent weeks.
President Joe Biden’s campaign struck back at Haley’s endorsement, citing harsh criticisms that Haley had leveled against Trump in the past.
“Ambassador Haley said it best herself: someone who doesn’t respect our military, doesn’t know right from wrong, and ‘surrounds himself in chaos’ can’t be president,” the Biden campaign said in a statement before making an appeal to the voters Haley addressed in her RNC speech.
