Nikki Haley offers ‘strong endorsement’ of Trump

“I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement. Period!” she said to start her 11-minute speech Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump!” she said as people in the crowd got on their feet in applause, including the former president.

However, she continued, “We should acknowledge that there are Americans who don’t agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time. I happen to know some of them,” she said with a grin, “and I want to speak to them tonight.

“You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him,” she continued. “Take it from me: I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree.”

Haley, who worked for Trump as his first ambassador to the United Nations, had avoided formally endorsing the former president for months after dropping out of the GOP presidential primary.

Trump’s last challenger, Haley wished him well as she exited the race following Super Tuesday in early March. But she specifically declined to endorse him, saying he needed to earn the votes of her supporters.

On Tuesday night, Haley said the stakes are too high not to support him.

“I’m here tonight because we have a country to save, and a unified Republican Party is essential to saving her,” she said to chants of “U-S-A!”

She reminded the audience of a line she repeated throughout the primary — that a vote for President Joe Biden would be a vote for Kamala Harris, the vice president, to replace him as commander in chief. A year ago, her suggestion was dismissed during a TV interview.

“After seeing the debate, everyone knows it’s true,” she said, referring to Biden’s performance during the presidential debate with Trump last month.

With either one of them in the Oval Office, Haley said, America would be “badly worse off.”

Haley said she and Trump agree on keeping America safe and strong, comparing Biden and Trump on foreign policy and border security.

She accused Biden of sending “every possible sign of weakness” on the world stage. She blamed him for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and for Iran being able to fund Hamas in its attack on Israel last October, igniting a war that continues.

“A strong president doesn’t start wars. A strong president prevents wars,” she said, noting a lack of invasions during Trump’s presidency.

As for the Middle East, “between Israel and Hamas, Donald Trump is clear on who is our friend and who is our enemy,” she said.

“Even now, when Hamas is still holding Americans hostage, Biden is pressuring Israel instead of the terrorists,” she said to boos from the audience.

Haley was initially not even invited to attend the RNC. But she told her 97 delegates last week to support the former president. On Sunday, though, she was announced as a speaker.

The invitation followed the shooting of Trump Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, when a would-be assassin’s bullet hit the former president’s right ear just as he turned his head. One rally attendee was killed and at least two other people were injured before authorities killed the shooter, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

She spoke during the second night of the convention, when the theme was “make America safe again.”

Haley began Tuesday’s speech by saying Trump asked her to speak at the RNC “in the name of unity.”

The Bamberg County native concluded by saying the party not only needs to unify behind Trump, but it also needs to expand and welcome people with different backgrounds and experiences.