(LibertySons.org) – Former South Carolina Governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley was the last serious opposition to Donald Trump for this year’s Republican presidential nomination. Now she says she’s going to vote for her former rival. She hasn’t endorsed him yet but says he’s a much better option than the incumbent, President Joe Biden.
Haley Will Vote for Trump
On May 21, Haley, who hadn’t made any public comments since winding up her presidential campaign on March 6, spoke at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC. After her speech, she took questions from the audience. One of those questions was whether Trump or Biden has better ideas on national security.
Haley didn’t pull any punches, saying Trump’s national security record has “not been perfect,” and adding that she’s said that repeatedly. However, she said, “Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump.”
Despite that, Haley still stopped short of endorsing Trump — and she said he “would be smart” to try to attract the votes of her supporters. There are a good number of those; more than two months after she suspended her campaign, it continues to attract a significant number of votes in the primaries.
There are obviously a lot of Republicans out there who would still prefer someone else to be the party’s nominee, and the risk for Trump is that they’ll stay home instead of voting for him. After her Hudson Institute speech, Haley said it was up to Trump to win the votes of people who don’t support him so far, adding “I hope he does that.”
Biden Desperate for Backers
Biden hasn’t ignored Haley’s supporters either. Since she withdrew from the race, his campaign has been trying to persuade wavering Conservatives that he shares their values and Trump doesn’t. However, Haley’s latest comments could put a big dent in those efforts. There’s still a wide gap between her and Trump on national security issues; Haley is an interventionist and wants the US to take a firm line with rogue states like Russia and Iran, while Trump prefers to avoid foreign wars.
Haley is opposed to isolationism — but she’s even more opposed to Biden. In her speech, she blasted his backsliding over the Israel-Hamas war. Biden has recently blocked some weapons deliveries to the Israeli Defense Forces, in an attempt to appease his party’s pro-Palestinian left. Haley slammed that as a “foolish move,” and labeled Biden as “the commander in chief who refused to stop our enemies.” She might be hesitant to endorse Trump, but she certainly has no problems with condemning Biden.
~Here’s to Our Liberty!
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