WASHINGTON – Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said Wednesday that she plans to vote for former President Donald Trump in November, despite her criticism of him during the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Haley made her first public appearance since withdrawing from the presidential race with a speech on national security and foreign policy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.
After the comments, she answered a moderator’s question about whether or not Trump… President Joe Biden could address the problems better.
“Trump has not been perfect on this policy. I have made that clear many times,” Haley replied. “But Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will vote for Trump.
“That said, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech,” Haley continued. “Trump would be wise to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me, and not assume they will just stick with him. And I really hope he does.”
Haley has continued to support Trump by double digits in the Republican primaries, despite withdrawing from the race for the Republican nomination after Super Tuesday. Before leaving the race, she called Trump “diminished” and “unhinged” and said he had changed since she first endorsed him for president in the 2016 general election.
The Biden campaign, which has been courting Haley supporters, released a statement Wednesday saying Haley’s announcement that she will vote for Trump will not change anything for the “millions of Republican voters who continue to cast their ballots against Donald Trump in the primaries” , adding that Biden is the only candidate who is “deeply committed to the future of our democracy.”
Earlier this month, Trump ruled out Haley as a potential running mate after months of personal attacks between the two. Trump, who regularly took to Truth Social to call Haley “birdbrain,” openly called her campaign an “embarrassment” ahead of Super Tuesday. Trump had also gone after Haley’s husband and had frequently asked about his whereabouts on the campaign trail during his military deployment.
Haley spoke Wednesday about her return to civilian life after the March campaign, saying she was spending time with family, pointing to her husband Michael, who recently returned from a deployment in Djibouti. Haley said she suspended her campaign out of “gratitude,” acknowledging several members of her campaign staff who were in the audience.
Many of Haley’s former top opponents have endorsed Trump, including businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who has spoken frequently with Trump in recent weeks. Other opponents who have become signatories include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Former opponents who have not supported Trump include former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
While Haley spent most of her speech Wednesday attacking Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, calling his decision to temporarily deprive Israel of certain weapons “foolish,” she also criticized the growing isolationist views of members of her own party regarding Ukraine. Republicans need “clarity” on this issue.
Haley also called the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “literally disgusting.” She added that she plans to visit Israel soon, and said she wants Israelis to know that the Americans support them.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
