|
There has been immense speculation on who will receive the votes
of Haley's supporters in the Nov. 5 general election rematch
between Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden.
While Haley dropped her bid for the Republican presidential
nomination in March, her name has remained on the ballot and she
still routinely wins well over 10% of the vote in state-run
primary contests despite no longer campaigning.
Many of those votes are cast by Republicans and independents
dissatisfied with Trump, and some Democrats have begun courting
their support.
Haley, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
for two years when Trump was in office, never seriously
challenged the former president for the nomination, winning only
one state and the District of Columbia before ending her
campaign. But her fierce attacks on his character and competence
in the final months of her campaign made Haley the standard
bearer for the dwindling anti-Trump wing of the Republican
Party.
"Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I've made that
clear many, many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe. So I
will be voting for Trump," Haley told an audience during a
question-and-answer session on Wednesday at the Washington-based
Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.
The comments followed a speech on foreign policy, and the event
marked Haley's first public appearance since dropping out.
When she ended her campaign, she did not endorse Trump, and she
still has not formally done so.
In the past, she has called on Trump to reach out to her
supporters and earn their votes - comments she repeated on
Wednesday.
"Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who
voted for me and continue to support me and not assume that
they're just going to be with him," Haley said.
Trump's campaign has generally dismissed those calls, alleging
that Haley's supporters tend to vote for Democrats, even as many
are registered Republicans.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington and Michelle Nichols
in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
