Nikki Haley Breaks Silence Over Criticism for Endorsing Trump

At one time not long ago, Nikki Haley was working for Donald Trump, serving as the ambassador to the United Nations while Trump was in the White House.

Then, after stepping down from that position — and eventually deciding to seek the Republican nomination for president — the former governor of South Carolina became one of Trump’s biggest and most outspoken critics.

But, after she finally ended her campaign for the Republican nomination — long after it was apparent she had no chance of winning — Haley flip-flopped again, throwing her full support behind Trump.

Not surprisingly, Haley has received a lot of criticism for her support of Trump. Throughout the Republican primary, she attacked Trump from all angles. And even after she suspended her campaign, she didn’t immediately throw her support behind him, saying publicly that Trump would have to earn her support and that of all her backers.

It was as recently as February, actually, that if the GOP were to select Trump as the party’s nominee for the third straight election cycle, it would be “like suicide for our country.”

Just last week, though, Haley gave an impassioned speech during the Republican National Convention where she praised Trump for his record on foreign policy. She would have direct knowledge of that record, too, as her work during administration was focused on foreign policy.

On Thursday, Haley sat down for an interview with CNN, responding to critics about her support for Trump.

Jake Tapper, the anchor who interviewed Haley, said she “got a lot of pushback from Republicans who supported you. What do you say to them?”

She responded:

“I didn’t get a lot of pushback from Republicans. What I will tell you is I have great respect for those who stood with me. I am incredibly grateful. These were people who saw the fact that our border was out of control. They saw that debt was out of control, and our kids are going to pay for it.”

In addition, Haley said her supporters desired increased national security that would keep the U.S. safe. They wanted mental competency tests and term limits put in place for all politicians.

She continued:

“That was what we fought for. That’s what we did. And millions joined us. So, I wanted what they wanted. We were in it together, and I loved the fight that we had together.

“But, we’ve been given a choice. It’s Trump or it’s Harris. And so what I did was I said, this is who I will be voting for. I also said I don’t agree with Trump 100% of the time, and I don’t expect them to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. But, I wanted them to think about it through my eyes and how I thought about it.”

While Haley has endorsed Trump, her comments there seem to suggest it’s more of a case of her choosing the lesser of two evils than it is her really supporting Trump as the GOP’s nominee.