Former President Trump says that former GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley “absolutely” will “be on our team in some form” as he faces off with President Biden in a 2024 election rematch.
The presumptive GOP presidential nominee, in two interviews following a large campaign rally in the Bronx, reacted to Haley saying she would vote for Trump, in her first public comments since announcing the end of her White House campaign.
Haley, who was Trump’s last rival in the heated GOP primaries before suspending her campaign more than two months ago, and who has not endorsed the former president, was asked during a question-and-answer session following her address Tuesday at a conservative think tank in the nation’s capital whether Biden or Trump was stronger on national security issues.
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Former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before ending her bid in March, gives an address at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, on May 22, 2024 in Washington D.C. (Hudson Institute)
“Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I have made that clear many, many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump,” the former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration said.
However, Haley, who continues to grab up to 20% of the vote in Republican presidential primaries since ending her bid, said “Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me.”
“I appreciate what she said,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Lawrence Jones that ran Friday on “Fox and Friends.”
“The party is together,” he emphasized.
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Additionally, in an interview with News 12 in New York, the former president said, “I think she’s going to be on our team because we have a lot of the same ideas, the same thoughts,”
“You know we had a nasty campaign. It was pretty nasty. But she’s a very capable person and I’m sure she’s going to be on our team in some form. Absolutely,” Trump said as he pointed back to the heated clash between him and Haley earlier this year.
Former President Trump holds a large rally in the Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Haley launched her presidential campaign in February last year, becoming the first major candidate to challenge Trump, who had announced his candidacy three months earlier. Additionally, earlier this year, she was the final rival to Trump, battling the former president in a contentious two-candidate showdown from the New Hampshire primary in late January through Super Tuesday in early March.
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Trump repeatedly targeted Haley, including firing off racially charged attacks. He mocked the absence from the campaign trail of Haley’s husband, who at the time was on a military deployment overseas.
Former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former President Trump. (Getty Images)
Haley repeatedly questioned Trump’s mental acuity and charged that the former president was “unhinged.”
Haley announced that she was suspending her White House campaign on March 6, the day after Trump swept 14 of 15 GOP nominating contests on Super Tuesday.
Haley’s team did not react to Trump’s comments at the time this story was published.
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