Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who ended her Republican presidential primary run after the Super Tuesday in early March, has thrown her weight behind Donald Trump, with whom she fought one of the bitterest fights when the two were pitched against each other. Former White House Director Anthony Scaramucci and others weighed in on the development.
Biden Vs. Trump: Haley said Wednesday she plans to vote for Trump while she was speaking at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington, the Guardian reported. The statement was made in response to a question on whether President Joe Biden or Trump would do a better job on national security issues.
Listing down the criteria she would consider while choosing the president, Haley said she would look for aspects such as backing the allies, holding enemies to account, supporting capitalism and freedom, and reducing the national debt.
While conceding that neither candidate was perfect, she suggested Trump could be the better of the evils. “Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I have made that clear many, many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will be voting for Trump,” she said.
Haley, however, clarified, as she sounded out in her suspension speech, that Trump would be better off reaching out to the millions of people who voted for her and continued to support her. The former president can’t just assume they would automatically align behind him, she added.
U-Turn Earns Brickbats: Scaramucci, an active anti-Trump crusader, reacted to the development. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said, “‘Bird Brain’ has endorsed Trump. This is the moral cowardice of our current political leadership,” he said.
Principles First founder Heath Mayo also took exception to this sudden about-face. He noted that Haley had “spoken clearly and developed her own base in politics that Trump couldn't steal. She stood on her own feet. We even voted for her after she dropped out.”
“And she just threw it all away. An utterly bizarre and cowardly choice,” he added.
Ex-Republican Congressman Joe Walsh said on social media Haley was being untruthful. "This isn't complicated: Nikki Haley believes Trump is unfit. And she believes he should never be back in the White House,” he said.
“But if she said that publicly, her career as a Republican would be over. So, as expected, she decided to not be truthful. To keep her career as a Republican.”
Despite quitting the GOP primary race, Haley still took away a sizeable chunk of votes in some of the primary contests. Earlier this month rumors suggested Trump’s campaign was actively considering roping her in as Vice Presidential candidate but Trump refuted the speculation.
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