Nikki Haley said Wednesday in her first public appearance since dropping out of the Republican primary that she will vote for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 general election.
“I prioritize a president who supports our allies and holds our adversaries accountable for protecting our borders,” Haley said at a foreign policy discussion at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.
“Mr. Trump is not perfect on these policies, and I have made that clear many times,” she said. “But Biden was a disaster. That’s why I’m voting for Trump.”
But Haley also called on her former Republican opponent to reach out to more of her supporters.
“Mr. 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 support him,” she said. “And I sincerely hope you do.”
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Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential primary in March, but continues to garner a notable share of the anti-Trump vote in states across the U.S. Just last week, the former U.N. ambassador won 20% of the vote in Maryland, 17.9% in Nebraska and 9.4% in West Virginia.
Haley was the last candidate to run against Trump in the Republican race. Haley ramped up her attacks on Trump in the weeks leading up to her withdrawal from the race, at one point describing him as a “disaster” for the Republican Party.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Haley’s foreign policy warning
Haley’s comments about the 2024 election came after a roughly 30-minute foreign policy speech that sharply compared the current situation to the beginning of World War II.
“These crises are closer than we think,” Haley said. “Joe Biden is going to rush into it, and some Republicans are going to push us into war.”
Her sharpest rebuke of the speech was aimed at the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, where Haley admonished the Democratic president for threatening to withdraw arms from Israel, arguing that such actions would bring the US directly closer to the conflict.
“Israel is fighting America’s enemies, not just Hamas but Hezbollah, the Houthis and above all, Iran,” she said. “Mr. Biden has given our enemies the green light for more bloodshed.”
Biden said earlier this month he would halt arms shipments to Israel, acknowledging that some weapons have been used to kill civilians in the Gaza Strip. The Democratic president’s administration later clarified that it was withholding just one weapons system, citing concerns about a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are displaced.
In her speech, Haley also mentioned the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
“The crash could not have happened to such a terrible person,” the former diplomat said, adding that “the Iranian people are better off without him.”
And Haley directed some of her anger at congressional Republicans who for months opposed funding measures that would increase Ukraine’s fighting capabilities. Haley said she supports Republicans’ goal of cutting U.S. foreign aid, but argued that funding to countries like Israel and Ukraine is not the same.
“This is an investment in a world where authoritarian dictators cannot run roughshod over free nations,” she said.
“We can turn inward, but the outside world will not leave us alone,” Haley warned. “The worst thing we can do is fail to act. And delaying action only creates more difficult decisions and increases the likelihood of catastrophe.”
Contributor: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY
