COLOMBIA, SC (AP) — Nikki Haley is perhaps the most prominent Republican in the country who has refused to align with and endorse Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy.
It’s unclear how long this might last.
Some allies believe she may be forced to support him before the November elections to avoid permanently alienating the Republican Party’s base. Some even suspect that Haley will resurface on Trump’s short list of vice presidential candidates in the coming months, despite Trump’s recent statement to the contrary.
But if Haley defers to Trump, as so many of her Republican critics have done, she also risks destroying her own coalition of independents, moderates and anti-Trump Republicans, who are still showing up to support her in low-key primary contests, from the deep red of Indiana to the deep blue of Maryland.
His decision in the coming months will be closely monitored not only by his supporters, but also by Trump and the President’s allies. Joe Biden. What she decides to do — and whether her coalition follows suit — could have a profound impact on this year’s general election and her future as a high-profile Republican whose brand appeals to many people outside her party.
“Nikki Haley could be the person that brings us together,” said Thalia Floras, a 62-year-old retail manager from Nashua, New Hampshire, who was a lifelong Democrat before voting for Haley in her state’s January primary.
But Floras also offers a warning: “Nikki Haley has a good place with me now. But if she goes with Trump, I’m finished.”
People close to Haley, the 52-year-old former governor and U.N. ambassador, say it is unclear what she will do.
HALEY VOTERS ON THE GO, BUT ONLY BIDEN TRYING
Haley and Trump haven’t spoken in months. This includes the period after she dropped out of the Republican Party primary campaign in early Marchaccording to a person with direct knowledge of Haley’s private conversations and who was not authorized to speak about them publicly.
And while some Republicans who supported Haley will certainly organically turn to Trump, the Biden campaign is working to win over his supporters, who they consider true swing voters.
Biden’s team is quietly organizing a Republicans for Biden group that will eventually include dedicated staffers and focus on Haley’s hundreds of thousands of voters in each swing state, according to people familiar with the plans but not authorized to discuss them. publicly.
The Democratic president did not keep his intentions a secret.
Biden issued a statement thanking Haley for her courage in challenging Trump just minutes after she dropped out of the primary race in March.
“Donald Trump has made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said at the time.
Meanwhile, Trump said in late January that Haley’s donors would be permanently banned from his “Make America Great Again” camp. Although he has refrained from attacking her since she left the race, Trump has also not made public statements of goodwill, as he has done with other defeated rivals such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
As part of Biden’s sustained outreach to Haley’s coalition, his campaign launched a digital ad late last month highlighting Trump’s often personal attacks on Haley, including her primary nickname as “bird brain” and the suggestion that “she is not a presidential member.”
Asked about Trump’s lack of contact with Haley and her supporters, senior adviser Jason Miller avoided any mention of her and instead cast doubt on the strength of Biden’s coalition of Black Americans, Latinos and young voters.
“The reality is that the Republican Party is united behind President Trump, while the Democratic Party has fallen apart because of Joe Biden’s disastrous policies on issues like inflation and the border,” Miller said.
Few expect Haley to openly support the Democratic president. Such a decision would make it difficult, if not impossible, for her to win a future Republican presidential primary if she decides to run again.
Instead, Biden allies are hopeful that Haley, among other prominent Republican critics of Trump, can remain silent or offer an endorsement focused on the election’s risks to democracy rather than outright praise for Biden.
If and when Biden’s team manages to land high-profile Republican supporters, it will likely wait a few more weeks to unveil them in order to help maximize its impact when voters are paying close attention to the November elections.
A PRO-BIDEN REPUBLICAN SPEAKS
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican who supported Haley in the GOP primary, formally endorsed Biden earlier this month. In an interview, he said he made the decision before speaking to the Biden campaign, although Biden personally called him to thank him after Duncan announced his decision.
Duncan has not ruled out playing a prominent role in the Republicans for Biden group or even speaking at the Democratic National Convention this summer, just as former Ohio governor John Kasich did four years ago.
Duncan hopes Haley doesn’t support Trump, as many of Trump’s high-profile Republican critics have done.
“I think it would be a short-term sugar high just to curry favor within the Republican Party,” Duncan said of a potential Haley endorsement of Trump. “She has the right to do whatever she wants. Obviously everyone is playing the political calculation. But at some point, where do we draw the line?”
The list of prominent Republicans willing to take on Trump in 2024 is extraordinarily small.
Even those who described Trump as a dangerous threat to democracy, such as New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, ended up endorsing him. Sununu, who was among Haley’s top national surrogates during the campaign, declined repeated requests to comment on his political future. And DeSantis, once Trump’s main primary rival and another early 2028 prospect, now plans to raise money for Trump’s general election campaign.
HALEY RETURNS TO THE PUBLIC PROMINENCE
Haley has just begun to emerge from a period of post-campaign seclusion, where she took time to reconnect with her family, especially her husband, a military man who recently returned from a nearly year-long trip overseas.
She plans to give a foreign policy speech later this week — her first public address since the end of her 2024 campaign — at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based conservative think tank where she has agreed to serve under President Walter P. Stern.
And last week, Haley met with dozens of donors and allies behind closed doors in South Carolina, where she thanked her coalition, largely ignoring Trump. She did not encourage attendees to support her campaign.
Simone Levinson, a Haley packager who attended the private meeting, said there is still an appetite among Republicans for a next-generation figure who can communicate well and build consensus.
“There is a very strong indication that it has reached a point that still continues to resonate with millions of Americans,” said Levinson, who lives in Florida.
YOUR COALITION SENDS A MESSAGE
In fact, without any formal organization, advertising or even private encouragement, Haley voters continue to show up in the low-key presidential primaries, which will run until the end of June, despite Trump being the only candidate still in the race.
Haley won more than 21% of the vote in Maryland’s presidential primary last week. This after reaching similar marks the previous week in Indiana It is Arizona a few weeks after leaving the race.
“She is articulate and intelligent, things Trump is not,” said retired school psychologist Kathy Showen, an independent voter from Cross Lanes, West Virginia, who voted in the primary for Haley last week.
Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, Floras said he will begrudgingly vote for Biden this fall because he can’t stomach Trump. But she is hopeful that Haley will run again in 2028.
Her feelings may change, however, if Haley relents and supports Trump before the fall elections.
“I would be very disappointed if she didn’t stand up to him,” Floras said. “That would break her.”
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People reported from New York. Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.
