Nikki Haley Delivers Big 2024 Announcement
Nikki Haley, a former Republican presidential candidate who clashed with Donald Trump during the primaries, addressed the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, expressing strong support for the 2024 GOP nominee.
“My fellow Republicans,” Haley began amid loud applause. “President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity. It was a gracious invitation, and I was happy to accept. I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear. Donald Trump has my strong endorsement. Period.”
“Our country is at a critical moment. We have a choice to make. For more than a year, I said, a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for President Kamala Harris. After seeing the debate, everyone knows it’s true,” Haley continued.
“If we have four more years of Biden or a single day of Harris, our country will be badly worse off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump. But there’s more to it than that. 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,” Haley added.
Haley declared: “We agree on keeping America strong. We agree on keeping America safe. And we agree that Democrats have moved so far to the left that they’re putting our freedoms in danger. I’m here tonight because we have a country to save, and a unified Republican Party is essential for saving her. For those who have some doubts about President Trump, I want to tell you a few things about the commander in chief I know and worked with as ambassador to the United Nations. I had a front-row seat to his national security policies. We sure could use those again.”
“Think about it, 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 invasion. No wars. That was no accident. Putin didn’t attack Ukraine because he knew Donald Trump was tough. A strong and strong president doesn’t start wars. A strong president prevents wars,” she said.
Trump expressed gratitude for surviving the terrifying moment on Saturday when an assassin attempted to kill him at a Pennsylvania campaign rally.
In a phone interview with the New York Post, the 45th president described the “very surreal experience” that nearly took his life, saying he’s “supposed to be dead.”
“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle. I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead. I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said.
He explained that if he hadn’t tilted his head slightly to the right to read a chart about illegal immigrants, what would have been a fatal shot only tore off a small portion of his ear and splattered blood across his cheek and forehead.
Despite being escorted off stage by Secret Service officials, Trump still wanted to address the crowd, but they had to take him to the hospital because it wasn’t safe to do so.
Trump revealed a massive bruise on his right forearm, showing how the agents arrived like “linebackers” as soon as the gunfire began.
He also addressed a question about his sneakers. In footage of the incident, he could be heard shouting, “Wait, I want to get my shoes,” as the agents hurried to get him off the stage quickly for safety.
Trump explained in the interview, “The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he said with a smile.
The gunman was positioned on a roof approximately 130 yards from where Trump was speaking, and Trump applauded the Secret Service agents for their bravery.
“They took him out with one shot right between the eyes. They did a fantastic job. It’s surreal for all of us,” Trump said.
Additionally, Trump spoke about the remarkable photo taken as he was trying to get off the platform and into an armored SUV, where he raised his fist and said, “Fight,” three times.
“A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen. They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture. I just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot,” Trump said.
“By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God I’m still here,” Trump added.
At the rally, two men were injured, and one man was shot and died. When asked if he had considered attending the funeral of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who lost his life defending his family from the gunman’s bullets, Trump replied affirmatively.
“Get the numbers, I want to go to the hospital and call all the families,” he said, turning to his assistants.