Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley announced on Wednesday that she plans to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming election. This marks her first public statement since withdrawing from the Republican presidential primary over two months ago.
Haley acknowledged that Trump “has not been perfect” on key issues such as foreign policy, immigration, and the economy. However, she criticized President Joe Biden as a “catastrophe,” leading to her decision: “So I will be voting for Trump,” she said. Haley served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump.
Her comments about the 2024 race came during a Q&A session following a speech at the conservative Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, where she holds the Walter P. Stern chair.
Reflecting on her primary campaign, Haley expressed she has “no regrets” and felt they “left it all on the field.” She also thanked the primary voters who have continued to support her since her exit from the race—a potential sign of lingering support for her that could affect Trump. Haley reiterated her earlier call for Trump to engage with these voters.
Earlier this year, Haley and Trump were involved in a contentious primary rivalry. Haley questioned Trump’s mental fitness and described both Trump and Biden as “equally bad” in a January interview with CNN. Her criticisms intensified after Trump mocked her deployed husband and suggested that her donors should be “permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”
“In that moment, he showed that with that kind of disrespect for the military, he’s not qualified to be the president of the United States, because I don’t trust him to protect them,” Haley said in February.
Just days before exiting the race, Haley declared that she no longer felt obligated to support the eventual Republican nominee, as required by the Republican National Committee pledge.
