After a failed campaign buoyed by the Never Trump movement, Nikki Haley’s pathetic caving to Donald Trump stooped to a final, new low on Tuesday: Politico reported Haley will be releasing her 97 delegates and telling them to back Trump at the Republican National Convention next week. Adding salt to the wound, Haley was allegedly not invited to attend at the RNC, according to Politico.
Haley spokesperson Chaney Denton told Politico that Haley won’t be attending the RNC next week because she wasn’t invited, “and she’s fine with that,” Denton said. “Trump deserves the convention he wants. She’s made it clear she’s voting for him and wishes him the best.”
“The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity,” Haley will announce in a statement, according to Politico. “Joe Biden is not competent to serve a second term and Kamala Harris would be a disaster for America. We need a president who will hold our enemies to account, secure our border, cut our debt, and get our economy back on track. I encourage my delegates to support Donald Trump next week in Milwaukee.”
Haley built a campaign as a moderate conservative alternative to Trump’s extreme agenda, and was boosted by Republicans disinterested in a second Trump term. After grim primary results, Haley ultimately suspended her campaign in March, the last Trump contender to do so. However, her lifeless campaign continued eating into Trump’s lead through the remainder of the primaries. Haley’s zombie campaign picked up 6.4 percent of Republican voters in Kentucky’s primary in May, an eye-popping 21 percent in Indiana’s primary, and pulled 8.6 percent away from Trump in New Mexico’s June primary—three months after she suspended her campaign. In May, Haley stated she would be voting for Trump in November but stopped short of explicitly directing voters to support the man she once described as “totally unhinged” whose presidency would be “suicide for our country.”
Trump raised racist birther conspiracies about Haley while she was running for president, alleging that she couldn’t be president because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born, and mocking her legal first name of Nimrata. Trump also called her a “birdbrain” in September 2023, saying she “doesn’t have the TALENT or TEMPERAMENT to do the job.” Haley interpreted Trump’s remarks as a compliment that her campaign was gaining momentum, responding “Love this. It means we are in 2nd and moving up fast.” After she suspended her campaign, Trump suggested Haley may have a place on his team, calling her a “capable person” and noting “we have a lot of the same ideas, the same thoughts.”
