Once Trump’s Fiercest Rival, Nikki Haley Makes the Case for Republicans Uniting Behind Him

A few months ago, Nikki Haley was one of Donald Trump’s fiercest opponents. The two candidates engaged in public spats and name-calling as they campaigned for the Republican nomination. But on the second night of the Republican National Convention, Haley set aside their past conflicts and formally endorsed her ex-boss and onetime rival for the general election.

“Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” Haley said shortly after taking the stage in a call for party unity on the same night that other former Trump challengers turned backers—including Vivek Ramaswamy, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and later Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—also spoke. Haley’s speech was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos from the audience.

The former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in May announced she would vote for Trump, but she stopped short of endorsing him at the time. Haley was not originally set to speak at the convention, but she said she was invited by Trump just days earlier after his attempted assassination.

The address was a crucial moment in the party’s effort to project unity and solidify support for Trump as the GOP nominee. In her address, Haley emphasized the importance of Republicans rallying behind Trump, despite their past differences. She argued that the stakes of the November election were too high to allow internal divisions to weaken the party’s chances. “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. Take it from me,” Haley said. “I haven’t always agreed with President Trump, but we agree more often than we disagree.”

Haley made a pointed effort to address the concerns of voters who might still be skeptical of Trump. She acknowledged the challenges of his presidency but argued that the alternative, a second term for Joe Biden, would be even more detrimental to the country’s future. “For more than a year, I said a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for President Kamala Harris,” Haley said, referring to the Democratic Vice President. “After seeing the debate, everyone knows it’s true. If we have four more years of Biden or a single day of Harris, our country will be badly worse off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump.”

She continued to level into Harris during her speech: “Kamala Harris had one job, and that was to fix the border. Now imagine her in charge of the entire country,” Haley said.

Haley also spoke briefly about foreign policy, an issue that she put at the center of her own presidential campaign, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine under President Biden. “A strong President doesn’t start wars. A strong President prevents wars,” Haley said.

Haley’s journey to the convention stage has been anything but straightforward. During her presidential campaign, she was one of Trump’s strongest challengers, positioning herself as a candidate who could offer stability and a new direction for the GOP. Her campaign highlighted concerns about Trump's leadership, his age, and his ongoing legal troubles. At various rallies, Haley argued that the former President’s return to the White House could spell chaos, contrasting her vision of a more orderly administration. “He said that Jan. 6 was a beautiful day. I think Jan. 6 was a terrible day,” she said at one debate.

Despite her persistence, the primary results were not in her favor. After a series of defeats, including losses in New Hampshire and her home state of South Carolina, Haley’s campaign struggled to gain traction. Still, she stayed in the race longer than some expected. Her campaign never formally backed Trump during its final days, unlike DeSantis, who had exited the race earlier and publicly supported the former President.

But on the convention stage on Tuesday night, Haley presented herself as a bridge-builder within the party.

“No President can fix all of our problems alone,” Haley said at the end of her speech. “We have to do this together. America has an amazing ability to self-correct. In this moment, we have a chance to put aside our differences and focus on what unites us and strengthens our country.”