Republican leader Nikki Haley endorses Donald Trump

Indian-American Republican leader Nikki Haley has endorsed her former boss Donald Trump as the party's candidate for the presidential election. Haley, 52, previously challenged Trump, 78, for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination but has now called for unity within the party.

Last week, Haley instructed her 97 delegates to vote for Trump at the convention, emphasising party unity. “I'll start by making one thing perfectly clear. Donald Trump has my strong endorsement,” Haley said in her address to the Republican National Convention, where Trump was nominated as the presidential candidate.

Trump is set to deliver his acceptance speech on Thursday. Haley, the only Republican leader to seriously challenge Trump during the primaries, addressed delegates and party leaders, stating Trump is the best choice to defeat incumbent President Joe Biden. “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,” said Haley, the former South Carolina governor and US Ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley defended Trump's foreign policy record and addressed voters who disagree with him on some issues. “There are some Americans who don't agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time,” she said. “My message to them is simple: You don't have to agree with Trump 100 per cent of the time to vote for him.”

Haley stressed the critical choice facing the country. “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 vote for president Kamala Harris. After seeing the debate, everyone knows it's true,” she said. “If we have four more years of Biden . . . or a single day of Harris . . . our country will be badly worse off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump.”

Trump was present at the convention center when Haley spoke, and he and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, gave her a standing ovation. “Our foreign enemies win when they see Americans hate each other. They see that today, whether it's on college campuses or in a field in Butler, Pennsylvania. But we can conquer those fears with strength and unity,” she said.

Haley highlighted various challenges facing Americans, including inflation, wages, indoctrination of young people, antisemitism, and crime in minority communities. She said, “No president can fix all 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.”

She called for expanding and unifying the party. “We must not only be a unified party. We must also expand our party. We are so much better when we are bigger. We are stronger when we welcome people 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,” she said.

Haley criticised the current administration's border policies and foreign policy decisions. “Under Donald Trump, the US didn't have the border disaster being faced today. And we won't when he is president again,” she said. She also criticised Biden's handling of Iran and Afghanistan, contrasting it with Trump's actions.

Haley highlighted the strength Trump demonstrated on the world stage. “When Barack Obama was president, Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea. With Joe Biden as president, Putin invaded all of Ukraine. But when Donald Trump was president, Putin did nothing. 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 them,” she said.

She concluded by acknowledging her disagreements with Trump but emphasizing their shared goals. “We agree on keeping America strong. We agree on keeping America safe. And we agree that the Democrats have moved so far to the Left that they're putting our freedoms in danger,” she said.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also spoke at the convention, urging Republicans to support Trump in the upcoming election. Ramaswamy emphasised the importance of unity and action in reviving national pride and restoring law and order.

(With inputs from PTI)