Nikki Haley is perhaps the highest-profile Republican in the nation who has refused to fall in line and endorse Donald Trump\u2019s presidential bid. It\u2019s unclear how long that might last. Some allies believe she may be forced to endorse him before the November election to avoid permanently alienating the Republican Party base. Some even suspect that Haley will re-emerge on Trump\u2019s short list of vice presidential contenders in the coming months, despite Trump\u2019s recent statement to the contrary. But if Haley submits to Trump, as so many of his GOP critics have done, she also risks destroying her coalition of independents, moderates and anti-Trump Republicans, who are still showing up to support her in low-profile primary contests from deep-red Indiana to deep-blue Maryland.<\/p>\n
Her decision in the coming months will be closely watched not just by her supporters, but by allies of Trump and President Joe Biden. What she decides to do \u2013 and whether her coalition follows \u2013 could have a profound impact on this year\u2019s general election and her future as a top-tier Republican whose brand appeals to many people outside her party. \u201cNikki Haley could be the person that unites us,\u201d said Thalia Floras, a 62-year-old retail manager from Nashua, New Hampshire, who was a lifelong Democrat before casting a ballot for Haley in her state\u2019s January primary. But Floras also has a warning: \u201cNikki Haley has a good place with me now. But if she goes with Trump, I\u2019m done.\u201d Those close to Haley, a 52-year-old former governor and U.N. ambassador, say it\u2019s unclear what she\u2019ll do.<\/p>\n
Haley and Trump haven\u2019t spoken in months. That includes the period after she bowed out of the GOP primary campaign in early March, according to a person with direct knowledge of Haley\u2019s private conversations who was not authorized to speak about them publicly. And while some Republicans who supported Haley will certainly drift back to Trump organically, the Biden campaign is working to win over her supporters, whom they view as true swing voters. Biden\u2019s team is quietly organising a Republicans for Biden group, which will eventually include dedicated staff and focus on the hundreds of thousands of Haley voters in each battleground state, according to people familiar with the plans but not authorized to discuss them publicly.<\/p>\n
The Democratic president hasn\u2019t kept his intentions a secret. Biden issued a statement thanking Haley for her courage to challenge Trump just minutes after she bowed out of the primary race in March. \u201cDonald Trump made it clear he doesn\u2019t want Nikki Haley\u2019s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,\u201d Biden said at the time. Trump, meanwhile, said in late January that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d camp. While he has refrained from attacking her since she left the race, Trump hasn\u2019t offered public statements of goodwill either as he has for other vanquished rivals like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n
As part of Biden\u2019s sustained outreach to Haley\u2019s coalition, his campaign released a digital ad late last month highlighting Trump\u2019s often-personal attacks against Haley, including his primary nickname of her as \u201cbirdbrain\u201d and suggestion that \u201cshe\u2019s not presidential timber.\u201d Asked about Trump\u2019s lack of outreach to Haley and her supporters, senior adviser Jason Miller avoided any mention of her and instead cast doubt on the strength of Biden\u2019s coalition of Black Americans, Latinos and young voters. \u201cThe reality is the Republican Party is united behind President Trump while the Democrat Party has shattered to pieces because of Joe Biden\u2019s disastrous policies on issues like inflation and the border,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Few expect Haley to endorse the Democratic president outright. Such a decision would make it difficult, if not impossible, for her to win a future GOP presidential primary if she decides to run again. Instead, Biden\u2019s allies are hopeful that Haley, among other high-profile Republican Trump critics, may either stay silent or offer an endorsement focusing on the stakes of the election for democracy rather than direct praise for Biden. If and when Biden\u2019s team does secure high-profile Republican supporters, it\u2019s likely to wait several more weeks to unveil them to help maximize their impact when voters are paying closing attention to the November election.<\/p>\n
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican who had backed Haley in the GOP primary, formally endorsed Biden earlier in the month. In an interview, he said he made the decision before talking to Biden\u2019s campaign, although Biden personally called to thank him after Duncan announced his decision. Duncan didn\u2019t rule 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 Gov. John Kasich did four years ago. Duncan hopes Haley doesn\u2019t ultimately endorse Trump as so many of Trump\u2019s high-profile Republican critics have done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like that would be a short-term sugar high to just gain favor inside the Republican Party,\u201d Duncan said of a potential Haley endorsement of Trump. \u201cShe has the right to do what she wants to do. Obviously everybody\u2019s playing the political calculus. But at some point, where do we draw the line?\u201d The list of high-profile Republicans willing to stand up to Trump in 2024 is extraordinarily small.<\/p>\n
Even those who described Trump as a dangerous threat to democracy, like New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, have ultimately endorsed him. Sununu, who was among Haley\u2019s top national surrogates during the campaign, declined repeated requests to comment on her political future. And DeSantis, once Trump\u2019s chief primary rival and another early 2028 prospect, now plans to raise money for Trump\u2019s general election campaign.<\/p>\n
Haley has only just begun to emerge from a period of post-campaign seclusion, where she took time to reconnect with family, especially her husband, a military serviceman who recently returned from a nearly yearlong tour overseas. She plans to deliver a speech on foreign policy later this week \u2013 her first public address since ending her 2024 campaign \u2013 at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based conservative think tank where she\u2019s agreed to serve as the Walter P. Stern Chair.<\/p>\n
And last week, Haley huddled with dozens of donors and allies behind closed doors in South Carolina, where she thanked her coalition, while largely ignoring Trump. She did not encourage attendees to support his campaign. Simone Levinson, a Haley bundler who attended the private gathering, said there remains an appetite among Republicans for a next-generation figure who can communicate well and build consensus. \u201cThere is a very strong indication that she has struck a chord that is still continuing to resonate with millions of Americans,\u201d said Levinson, who is based in Florida.<\/p>\n
Indeed, without any formal organisation, advertising or even private encouragement, the Haley voters continue to show up in low-profile presidential primaries, which will run through the end of June even though Trump is the only candidate still in the running. Haley earned more than 21% of the vote in Maryland\u2019s presidential primary last week. That\u2019s after hitting similar marks the week before in Indiana and Arizona just weeks after leaving the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s articulate and intelligent, which are things that Trump isn\u2019t,\u201d said retired school psychologist Kathy Showen, an independent voter from Cross Lanes, West Virginia, who cast a primary ballot for Haley last week. Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, Floras said she\u2019ll begrudgingly vote for Biden this fall because she can\u2019t stomach Trump. But she\u2019s hopeful that Haley will run again in 2028. Her feelings might change, however, if Haley gives in and endorses Trump before the fall election. \u201cIt would really disappoint me if she doesn\u2019t stand up to him,\u201d Floras said. \u201cThat would do her in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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