Nikki Haley says she is voting for Trump: 'Biden has been a catastrophe'
Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says she plans to vote for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election months after she exited the race without endorsing him and as she continues to receive votes in Republican presidential primaries.
In remarks at the Washington-based conservative think tank Hudson Institute Wednesday, Haley responded to a question asking, "Who do you think would do a better job in the White House, Joe Biden or Donald Trump?"
"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.
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"I will be voting for Trump," she announced. "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."
Haley painted her preferred candidate as "a president who would support capitalism and freedom" and "a president who understands we need less debt, not more debt." While acknowledging that "Trump has not been perfect on these policies," she asserted that "Biden has been a catastrophe."
Haley's comments at the Hudson Institute marked her first public speech in her new role as the Walter P. Stern Chair at the think tank. Haley's work at the organization focuses on national security and defense, foreign policy, economics and human rights.
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, continues to receive a significant share of votes in the Republican presidential primaries despite having exited the race.
Statistics compiled by The Green Papers, which tracks the results of presidential primaries and caucuses, show that she has received 20.42% of the popular vote in the contests held as of Thursday and amassed several dozen delegates.
However, Haley's performance in the primaries is nowhere near enough to threaten Trump's grip on the Republican nomination. He has received more than 75% of the popular vote and accumulated more than 2,100 of the 2,429 delegates up for grabs at the Republican National Convention.
Haley dropped out of the race on March 6, one day after the Super Tuesday contests that featured the highest number of states holding presidential primaries or caucuses than any other night. She initially declined to endorse Trump and instead urged him to reach out to the "large bloc of Republican primary voters who are expressing concerns" about him.
Haley was one of several candidates who sought the Republican nomination for president before dropping out due to Trump's dominance in primary polling and the primaries themselves. While many former Republican candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, radio talk show host Larry Elder and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have endorsed Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence has declined to do so.
Additionally, a handful of Democrats sought to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination for president, and all but one have suspended their campaigns. Currently, the major candidates remaining in the 2024 presidential election are Trump, Biden, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., independent candidate Cornel West and potential Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The RealClearPolitics average of polls taken between April 18 and May 20, measuring Americans' opinions on the 2024 presidential election, shows Trump leading Biden by 0.9 percentage points. That lead increases to 2.2% when looking at polls taken from April 22 to May 21 that include Kennedy, West and Stein as possible options.
Data gathered by RealClearPolitics based on polls taken between April 18 and May 21 shows that just 40.5% of Americans approve of Biden's job performance as president compared to 56.6% who disapprove.
Similarly, an average of polls taken between March 27 and May 21 asking Americans for their thoughts on Trump shows that 42.9% of Americans have a favorable opinion of him, while 53.9% have an unfavorable opinion of the former president.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
