Nikki Haley threaded the needle with high-profile RNC speech about Donald Trump | Opinion

No prominent Republican did more to keep former President Donald Trump out of the White House in 2024 than former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Yet there she was in prime time on Tuesday at the Republican National Convention, eloquently urging Americans to give Trump and not Democratic President Joe Biden four more years and a second chance.

In an 11-minute speech that both explained her change of heart and sought to expand the GOP’s “big tent” of old, and which you can read in its entirety below, Haley first addressed the Republicans in the room and nationwide then turned to those who “don’t agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time.”

She threaded the needle in a difficult, high-profile moment with all eyes on her.

With her first 42 words, Haley said she was happy to accept Trump’s gracious invitation to speak and added, “I’ll start by making one thing clear. Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period.

“For more than a year, I said a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for President Kamala Harris,” she said. “After seeing the debate, everyone knows it’s true. If we have four more years of Biden, or a single day of Harris, our nation will be badly off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump.”

Then she addressed those people who have doubts about Trump.

As recently as Friday, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of only a few high-profile Republicans left opposed to Trump, said she would write Haley in on her ballot instead of voting for Trump.

“She’s still my favorite candidate, and I think she could do a great job. She’s my choice, and that’s how I’m going to express it,” Collins told WMTW-TV.

Haley expressed her own disdain for Trump repeatedly this year, describing him with words like “toxic,” “unhinged,” “diminished,” and “not qualified to be president of the United States.”

Tuesday, Trump’s former United Nations ambassador used another word to describe Trump: needed.

“For those who have some doubts about President Trump, I want to tell you a few things about the commander-in-chief I know and worked with,” she said. “As ambassador to the United Nations, I had a front row seat to his national security policies. We sure could use those again.”

Some will suggest Haley spoke through gritted teeth.

Some will say Trump didn’t clap as long or stand as much for her as he did for other speakers this week.

But the bottom line is both Trump and Haley got what they needed out of the speech.

Trump’s most ardent supporters wouldn’t have blamed him if he stopped listening after just three words – “strong endorsement, period” – but the reality is he didn’t stop. He showed her respect and hung on her words until the end.

And Haley reached a lot of Republicans, some of whom booed her before her speech Tuesday, and people outside the Republican party in a speech that met a difficult moment for her and may yet set up others for a potential 2028 presidential run, although she would say it’s far too early to speculate on that now.

Of course, political opponents coming around to kiss the ring — and that’s not exactly what Haley did on Tuesday — is nothing new in politics. Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, campaigned against him as hard as any other Democrat, blasting him for a “hurtful” relationship with segregationist lawmakers and for opposition to busing.

But onlookers wondered how Haley would do it in an election cycle in which she was the first Republican to challenge Trump and the last to leave the race, well after many in the GOP believed it was time for her to quit.

As you’ll recall, Haley won two primaries — Vermont and Washington, D.C. — and stayed in the race even after losing a lopsided GOP primary in the Palmetto State on Feb. 24. She lost it by 20 percentage points while winning just three of the state’s 50 delegates.

Overall, she won only 97 delegates before leaving the race on March 6. Even after announcing her departure, she won 150,000 votes in Washington in March, 158,000 votes in Pennsylvania in April and 128,000 votes in Indiana in May, signaling that not all in the GOP were on board with another Trump presidency. That signal seems weaker now after the past few days, from the assassination attempt on Trump through the first two days of the RNC.

Haley finally endorsed him in May. It took two months after her exit to do so and two months after that, just last week, she formally released her delegates to vote for him. Then Trump responded to his assassination attempt by pumping his fist in the air and pumping up the crowd to ”fight,” and Haley and millions of Americans lifted Trump and that day’s other victims up in prayer.

A day later, Haley said she’d speak at the RNC.

She wasn’t the only former Trump foe to take the stage Tuesday night.

Vivek Ramaswany and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, two other 2024 GOP candidates, also praised Trump last night. As did 2016 challengers, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

Notably missing were two 2024 Republican presidential candidates.

Former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, has said he won’t endorse the man whose supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, some chanting “Hang Mike Pence” because he upheld the legitimate and lawful 2020 election results.

And former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie hasn’t embraced Trump, either. Hours before Haley’s remarks, The New York Times published a commentary in which Christie wrote that Trump had a real opportunity to call for unity and an end to ugly political rhetoric but that his selection Monday of Sen. JD Vance of Ohio was a “less than promising” start. Such resistance by high-profile Republicans is rare these days, though.

It is Trump’s party as the elections in 2016, 2020 and now 2024 are showing. This week, the tone and tenor of the GOP convention has been one of rallying around a man many see as God’s chosen one and more see as the party’s engine, plain and simple.

By contrast, many Democrats don’t think the sitting president should be the nominee.

Below is a full transcript of former Gov. Nikki Haley’s remarks Tuesday at the Republican National Convention. Let us know what you think of them in the comments below.

My fellow Republicans, President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity. [Applause.]

It was a gracious invitation, and I was happy to accept. [Applause.]

I’ll start by making one thing clear. Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period. [Applause.]

Our country is at a critical moment. We have a choice to make. For more than a year, I said a vote for Joe Biden is a votefor President Kamala Harris. After seeing the debate, everyone knows it’s true. If we have four more years of Biden, or a single day of Harris, our nation will be badly off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump. [Applause.]

But there’s more to it than that. We should acknowledge that there are some Americans that don’t agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time. I happen to know some of them. And I want to speak to them tonight. [Applause.]

My message to them is simple: You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. [Applause.]

Take it from me: I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree. [Applause.]We agree on keeping America strong. [Applause.] We agree on keeping America safe. [Applause.] And we agree that Democrats have moved so far to the left that they are putting our freedoms in danger. [Applause.]

I’m here tonight because we have a country to save and a unified Republican party is essential for saving her. [Applause and chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.”]

For those who have some doubts about President Trump, I want to tell you a few things about the commander-in-chief I know and worked with. As ambassador to the United Nations, I had a front row seat to his national security policies. We sure could use those again. [Applause.]

Think about it. When Barack Obama was president, Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea. With Joe Biden as president, Vladimir Putin invaded all of Ukraine. But when Donald Trump was president, Putin did nothing. No invasion. [Applause.] No invasions, no wars. That was no accident. Putin didn’t attack Ukraine because he knew Donald Trump was tough. A strong president doesn’t start wars. A strong president prevents wars. [Applause.]

Then look at the Middle East. Every problem in that part of the world can be laid at the feet of Iran. The dictators who chant “Death to America” are the bank rollers and weapons suppliers for Hamas and Hezbollah. They’re behind the barbaric massacres and the hostage taking. Once again, compare Trump and Biden.Trump got us out of the insane Iran nuclear deal. [Applause.] He imposed the toughest sanctions ever on Iran. And he eliminated the arch terrorist Qasem Soleimani. [Applause.]

Iran was too weak to start any wars. They knew Trump meant business, and they were afraid. And then there’s Joe Biden. [Boos.] He lifted the sanctions. He begged them to get back in the nuclear deal. He surrendered in Afghanistan. He sent every possible sign of weakness. Even now, while Hamas is still holding Americans, Americans, hostage, Biden is pressuring Israel instead of the terrorists. Between Israel and Hamas, Donald Trump is clear about who is our friend and who is our enemy. [Applause.]

Then look at the border. It’s the single biggest threat Americans face. Under Joe Biden, migrants are coming into our country by the thousands every single day. We have no idea who they are, where they end up or what they plan to do. And let me remind you. Kamala had one job, one job, and that was to fix the border. Now imagine her in charge of the entire country. [Boos.]

Under Donald Trump, we didn’t have the border disaster we have today, and we won’t when he is president again. [Applause.]

I was proud to serve America in President Trump’s Cabinet. And I’ll tell you something you won’t hear from the critics. He appreciated advice and input. Americans were well served by his presidency, even if they didn’t agree with him on all things.

Now, to my fellow Republicans, we must not only be a unified party, we must also expand our party. [Applause.] We are so much better when we are bigger. We are stronger when we welcome into our party who have different backgrounds and experiences. And right now, we need to be strong to save America.

This is a defining moment not only for our party, but for our country. Our fellow Americans are fearful right now. Families are suffering from inflation and wages that don’t keep up with prices. Young people are being indoctrinated to think our country is racist and evil. The Jewish community is facing an obscene rise in antisemitism. Too many minorities are trapped in communities devastated by crime.

Our foreign enemies win when they see Americans hate each other. They see that today. Whether it’s on college campuses or on a field in Butler, Pennsylvania. [Applause.]

But we can conquer those fears with strength and unity. No president can fix all of our problems alone. We have to do this together. America has an amazing ability to self-correct. In this moment, we have a chance to put aside our differences and focus on what unites us and strengthens our country. [Applause.]

Let us join together as a party. Let us come together as a people, as one country, strong and proud. Let us show our children and the world that even on our worst day we are blessed to live in America. [Applause.]

God bless you. Thank you. God bless the United States of America. [Applause.]

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