Nikki Haley, who ran a fierce campaign against Donald Trump in the GOP presidential primary, called on Republicans to unite and elect him in her address to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night, offering her clearest endorsement of her onetime rival since dropping out of the race.
“President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity. It was a gracious invitation and I was happy to accept,” Haley said, after taking the convention stage to a mixture of cheers and boos.
“Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” she said.
Haley went on to acknowledge that there are conservative and Republican voters who are still skeptical of the former president and urged Trump supporters to reach out to them.
“We should acknowledge that there are some Americans who don’t agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time. I happen to some of them and I want to speak to them tonight,” Haley said. “Take it from me. I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree.”
Haley’s address arguably marks her most supportive comments about Trump in well over a year. The former UN ambassador, who served under Trump during her administration, announced her presidential run in February of last year. Haley then took part in a contested primary against Trump, staying in the race until March. However, Haley continued to receive significant portions of the vote in subsequent primary states, sometimes winning as much as 20 percent of the vote.
Haley revealed in May that she would vote for Trump and released her delegates to Trump earlier this week.