Trump didn’t invite Haley to the RNC. She’s encouraging her delegates to back him anyway.
Haley’s decision to release all of her delegates was the final detente between her and Trump.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley released all of her delegates on Tuesday and encouraged them to support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president at next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity,” Haley said in a statement. “Joe Biden is not competent to serve a second term and Kamala Harris would be a disaster for America. We need a president who will hold our enemies to account, secure our border, cut our debt, and get our economy back on track. I encourage my delegates to support Donald Trump next week in Milwaukee.”
However, Haley, the only woman to seek the Republican presidential nomination, was not invited to attend the convention.
According to her spokesperson Chaney Denton, Haley “was not invited, and she’s fine with that. Trump deserves the convention he wants. She’s made it clear she’s voting for him and wishes him the best.”
Haley, the last viable alternative to Trump, secured 97 delegates from 12 states during the 2024 Republican primaries.
Haley’s decision to release all of her delegates was the final detente between the GOP runner-up and Trump. After Haley dropped out of the race in March, she called on Trump “to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him.” But Trump did not make any public effort to reach out to Haley or her voters.
Voters, however, continued to support her in state primaries after she ended her 2024 bid. In the weeks after she dropped out, 22 percent of voters in Indiana’s open GOP primary picked Haley. In April, she received 20 to 25 percent support in suburban counties around Philadelphia. Similar patterns played out elsewhere.
Trump’s campaign declined to comment, but pointed to the former president’s comments about Haley after a rally in New York.
“I think she’s going to be on our team because we have a lot of the same ideas, the same thoughts,” Trump told News 12 New York. “I appreciated what she said. 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.”
During a speech at the Hudson Institute, Haley, who is currently serving as the conservative think tank’s Walter P. Stern chair, said she would support a president who backed America’s allies, secured the border, supported “capitalism and freedom” and would lower the national debt. And while Trump “has not been perfect,” Haley said, she would vote for him in the general election.
“Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I’ve made that clear many, many times,” Haley said. “But Biden has been a catastrophe.”
“So I will be voting for Trump. Having said that, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech,” Haley said.
In June, Haley told the Wall Street Journal that she reached out to Trump after she announced she would be voting for him and had what she described as a “good conversation,” but said there was no discussion of any role on the campaign or at the upcoming convention. Haley served as Trump’s first United Nations ambassador.