Nikki Haley withdrew from the Republican primary in early March following a sweeping defeat on Super Tuesday at the hands of Donald Trump. Since then, given that she obtained more than four million votes, there was much speculation about her eventual support for the former president, given that she had been very harsh during the campaign. Even Joe Biden attempted to appeal to her voters. However, after thinking about it for a couple of months, Haley confirmed that she will vote for Trump in November.
The former governor of South Carolina analyzed the upcoming presidential elections at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, where she explained the reasons that led her to make this decision.
"No more debt"
"As a voter, 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, no more excuses. A president who would support capitalism and freedom, a president who understands we need less debt not more debt," she began.
She then pointed out that, although she may have political differences with the former president, the implications of a second Democratic term would be very harmful to the United States.
"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," she assured.
What will happen to Haley's voters?
Despite coming a distant second to Trump, Haley won two states and garnered more than four million votes, a little more than 20% of the total.
At the time of abandoning her run for the White House, she refused to endorse the magnate and said he should work to "earn the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him."
President Biden tried to take advantage of the situation to appeal to Haley's voters, at least rhetorically, perhaps trying to turn them into his John Kasich of 2020. "Donald Trump made it clear that he does not want to count on Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: there is a place for them in my campaign," the Democrat said in mid-March.
The former ambassador to the United Nations also referred to the fate of her voters at the Hudson Institute.
"Having said that, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech. 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," she said.
