Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has announced that she plans to vote for Donald Trump, her former opponent and boss, in the 2024 US presidential election.
Ms. Haley, who served as Mr. Trump’s United Nations ambassador, was the last of his major rivals to exit the party primary contest in early March.
At the time, she did not endorse him but encouraged him to earn the votes of the millions who had supported her.
On Wednesday, in her first public remarks since leaving the race, she acknowledged that Mr. Trump “has not been perfect,” but criticized President Joe Biden as “a catastrophe.”
Anti-Trump Republican voters had largely rallied behind Ms. Haley’s presidential bid earlier this year, and her dormant candidacy continues to attract support more than two months after she exited the race.
She garnered more than 20% of the vote in at least two state primary elections over the past fortnight.
The Biden campaign is attempting to attract these Haley Republicans, a mix of moderate and college-educated independent voters who could help swing the election toward the Democrat. Mr. Biden contends that Mr. Trump has repeatedly “made it clear he doesn’t want” voters who supported her.
Mr. Trump, who has disparaged his ex-cabinet member as a “bird brain,” was angered by her prolonged primary challenge and recently dismissed rumors that she was being considered for the vice-presidential slot.
Speaking on Wednesday at the conservative Hudson Institute think-tank in Washington DC, Ms. Haley reiterated her criticisms of both parties that she had voiced during her campaign.
However, she reserved her strongest words for the current president.
Mr. Biden, she said, oversaw a “debacle” in Afghanistan, “did nothing to deter the invasion” of Ukraine, and, most recently, “threw Israel to the wolves.”
“As a voter, I prioritize a president who will support our allies and hold our enemies to account, secure the border, support capitalism and freedom, and understand the need for less debt, not more debt,” she said.
“Trump has not been perfect on these policies, but Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will be voting for Trump.”