Nikki Haley to release delegates ahead of RNC in favor of Donald Trump

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley announced on Tuesday that she will release her delegates from 11 states and D.C. to the Republican National Convention and urge them to support her former rival and boss, Donald Trump.

“The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity. Joe Biden is not competent to serve a second term, and Kamala Harris would be a disaster for America,” Haley said. “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.”

Less than a week until the RNC kicks off, the decision to release the 97 delegates, as first reported by Politico, follows Haley’s comments that she would support Trump after a decidedly ugly presidential primary between the two.

Asked if Haley is attending the convention, Haley spokesperson Chaney Denton said that 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.”

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Haley initially ran for the 2024 Republican ticket in opposition to Trump. She finally withdrew from the race in March after performing better than expected and the last rival standing in the way of the GOP frontrunner and the presumptive nominee.

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How well did Haley do?

The former governor of South Carolina won the District of Columbia’s Republican primary on March 3, marking her first victory over Trump. Two days later, on Super Tuesday, Haley did so again, winning Vermont and its nine delegates, beating Trump by just over 3,000 votes, and becoming the first woman to win a state’s Republican primary.

Haley outlasted other primary candidates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Is Haley a vice president contender?

The former president has yet to announce a running mate for November’s election but confirmed that Nikki Haley wasn’t in the running. Trump posted, “Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!” on the social media platform Truth Social.

While she initially did not endorse Trump, she said she would vote for him over President Joe Biden.

“Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I’ve made that clear many, many times,” she said. “But Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will be voting for Trump.”

Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com or on X @TheVictorHagan. To support his work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

David Jackson contributed to the reporting of this story.