Nikki Haley Responds To Reports of Criticism Over Endorsing Trump

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who served as UN ambassador during President Donald Trump’s first term and has emerged as a significant challenger for the 2024 Republican nomination, addressed recent criticisms about her endorsement of Trump's latest White House bid.

Haley expressed strong support for Trump during her speech at the Republican National Convention last week, particularly highlighting his successful foreign policy record. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Haley responded to reports of criticism regarding her endorsement, stating she hadn’t encountered “much pushback” from Republicans so far.

“When you announced that you were going to vote for Donald Trump, you got a lot of pushback from Republicans who supported you. What do you say to them? What do you say to them when they say that they were with you?” Tapper asked. “They agree that Donald Trump is bad for the Republican Party, bad for the country. And they thought that you agreed with them, and they feel like you sold out.”

“I didn’t get a lot of pushback from Republicans,” Haley began. “What I will tell you is I have great respect for those who stood with me. I am incredibly grateful. These were people who saw the fact that our border was out of control. They saw that debt was out of control, and our kids are going to pay for it. They wanted national security that was going to keep America safe. They believed in mental competency tests. They believed in term limits. And they wanted Americans to have a choice for someone they could be proud of. That was what we fought for. That’s what we did. And millions joined us.

“And so I wanted what they wanted. We were in it together, and I loved the fight that we had together. But we’ve been given a choice. It’s Trump or it’s Harris. And so what I did was I said, this is who I will be voting for,” she continued.

“I also said, I don’t agree with Trump 100% of the time, and I don’t expect them to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. But I wanted them to think about it through my eyes and how I thought about it,” she added. “Since then, we’ve heard from a lot of people who appreciated my making the case for it. And, you know, I’m going to continue to be true to myself and true to what I fought for, and I’m going to continue to fight for that regardless of whether it’s in a position or not. I’m always going to fight for the country that we all love.”

Haley commenced her RNC speech with a robust endorsement of the former president.

“My fellow Republicans,” Haley began amidst enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. “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.