Former Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has announced she will vote for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, backing his bid to retake the White House.
Haley announced her voting intentions during an appearance at a conference hosted by the Hudson Institute. Haley recently joined the Hudson Institute, which is based in Washington, D.C.
Haley said she based her decision to vote for Trump on a mix of foreign policy, economic, and national security concerns.
“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,” 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,” she continued. “But Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump.”
Haley had challenged Trump in the 2024 Republican primary and was the last candidate to drop out as Trump racked up consecutive wins across the primary states. The two had traded barbs throughout the race.
In one October conference with the Republican Jewish Coalition, Haley reportedly described Trump’s leadership style as one of “chaos, vendettas and drama.” She further accused Trump of overly praising the leaders of foreign competitors and adversaries like China, Russia, and North Korea.
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Trump took shots at Haley’s mental aptitude in January, commenting, “I think I’m a lot sharper than her.” Trump went on to say if he and Haley took a mental aptitude test and compared the results, “She’s not gonna win, not gonna even come close to winning.”
Despite their differences, Trump indicated some openness toward working with his former primary challenger and said he would even consider bringing Haley into his administration if he retakes the White House.
“I think she’s going to be on our team because we have a lot of the same ideas, the same thoughts,” he told News 12 New York following a Thursday campaign rally in the Bronx. “I appreciated what she said. You know, we had a nasty campaign. It was pretty nasty, but she’s a very capable person and I’m sure she’s going to be on our team in some form absolutely.”
