Nikki Haley voiced her support for Donald Trump in a speech in DC on Wednesday, saying she will vote for her former rival who ridiculed her as a “bird brain.”
She did this in a Q&A at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.
“As a voter, I place my priorities on a president who will have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies accountable. Who would secure the border, no more excuses,” she said at the Hudson Institute.
‘Trump has not been perfect in this policy, I have made that clear many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will vote for Trump,” she said.
She also mentioned “support for capitalism” and said we need a president “who understands that we need less debt, not more debt.”
Voting for Trump: Nikki Haley has announced she will vote for Donald Trump in November
“That said, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech,” Haley said. “Trump would be wise to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me,” she warned.
Haley was the last Republican standing after a brutal primary campaign. It ended with her stepping up her attacks on Trump, who ridiculed her as a “bird brain” and repeatedly mocked her.
On Wednesday, she again called on Trump to respect her supporters, after several statements by Trump that he did not need them.
Her comments come as Trump has surrounded himself with loyalists, bringing many to his hush money trial in Manhattan, with fewer signs of him publicly courting his former rival.
Haley also had a warning for Trump when she ended her campaign after Super Tuesday in March after losing her home state.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him. And I hope he does,” she said. ‘At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not rejecting them. And our conservative cause desperately needs more people.”
Haley had top staffers in the audience for her speech, where she used a teleprompter for formal remarks. She only spoke about the campaign after interviewer Peter Rough asked.
Campaign manager Betsy Ankney, who was there, declined to say whether Haley would participate in other campaign activities when asked by DailyMail.com.
“I will let her comments speak for themselves,” she said.
Trump, who leads Biden in national polls and in key swing states, has been tight-lipped about potential vice presidential prospects.
One contender, Doug Burgum, attended Manhattan Criminal Court with Trump. Others reportedly on his list, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, have defended Trump against criminal charges.
