They may have worked well together in his first administration, but there was zero love lost between former President Donald Trump and former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley during the 2024 presidential primary season.
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Haley and Trump fought bitterly throughout the primary. As recently as Wednesday, Haley, through a spokesperson, indicated she had not been invited to attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and did not plan on attending, though she did release her 97 delegates and urge them to vote for Trump one day earlier.
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But then things changed, and it was announced that Haley would, in fact, be attending and speaking at the RNC. Tuesday evening, she delivered remarks that carried a paramount message: unity.
Haley opened her remarks making her position regarding voting for Donald Trump very clear.
I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear…
Donald Trump has my STRONG ENDORSEMENT! Period.
Haley also made the point that it’s counter-productive to hold to purity tests and let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
We should acknowledge that there are some Americans who don’t agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time.
I happen to know some of them.
And I want to speak to them tonight.
My message to them is simple. You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. Take it from me: I haven’t always agreed with President Trump — but we agree more often than we disagree.
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And particularly key, she highlighted the strengths of Trump’s presidency.
When Barack Obama was president, Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea.
With Joe Biden as president, Putin invaded all of Ukraine.
But when Donald Trump was president, Putin did NOTHING! No invasions! No wars!
While some supporters of the former president may understandably be skeptical of Haley given the acrimony between the two during the primary, it was evident from Haley’s speech Tuesday night that the hatchet has been buried — at least for now — and that she fully supports him sending Joe Biden packing on November 5.