Nikki Haley: ‘For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump’
The one-time Republican presidential nominee, former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley has taken to the podium at the Republican National Convention | WATCH
It was a politically risky invitation for Nikki Haley to accept.
After a combative primary challenging Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, it was easy to envision a hostile reception for Haley ahead of her prime-time speech Tuesday evening before a MAGA-heavy audience at the Republican National Convention.
Boos (there were a few) or even worse were certainly possible for a woman who repeatedly called Trump a liar, suggested he was in mental decline because of his age and that he was incapable of winning a general election.
The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador quickly made clear that she had been personally invited by Trump and was here to help him accomplish a goal.
“President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity,” she said at the very start of her 12-minute address. “It was a gracious invitation and I was happy to accept.”
Next, Haley left no doubt that she was on Team Trump. “Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” she said as the former president applauded along with others inside the Fiserv Forum.
In May, Haley made clear she planned to vote for Trump, although she technically stopped short of using the word “endorsement.” She also stopped short of calling on her supporters to back Trump.
Haley then said something that not many of the convention’s speakers have said: “We should acknowledge that there are some Americans who don’t agree with Donald Trump 100 percent of the time,” she said. “I happen to know some of them.”
She also invoked a Ronald Reagan kind of theme. “Take it from me: I haven’t always agreed with President Trump,” she said. “But we agree more often than we disagree.”
Haley argued the nation needs to be saved and that “a unified Republican Party is essential for saving her.” That triggered some “USA” chanting.
“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,” she said. “I had a front-row seat to his national security policies: we sure could use those again.”
Left unsaid was that Haley supports much stronger U.S. support for Ukraine than Trump, among the many policy disagreements she has with him.
After attracting support from independents and some Democrats during her primary challenge to Trump, Haley argued that is not a bad thing for the GOP.
“We must not only be a unified party,” she said. “We must also expand our party. We are much better when we are bigger. We are stronger when we welcome people into our party who have different backgrounds and experiences.”
The Wall Street Journal
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