President Joe Biden made an effort to court supporters of former presidential candidate Nikki Haley after she declined to endorse former President Donald Trump.
Biden’s strategy aims to sow division within the Republican Party by highlighting Haley’s decision not to endorse Trump after withdrawing from the race.
“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden stated in a Wednesday announcement. “I know there is a lot we won’t agree on.”
Biden referenced Democratic talking points as a rationale for Haley’s supporters to back him, stating, “But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”
According to a Super Tuesday CNN exit poll of Republican voters in North Carolina, among the slight majority who approved of Biden, 83 percent also supported Haley.
Haley exited the race on Wednesday morning and offered congratulations to the former president. “In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July,” she graciously remarked. “I congratulate him and wish him well.”
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it, who did not support him,” she added.
The relationship between Haley and Trump remains strained.
“Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record-setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Much of her money came from Radical Left Democrats, as did many of her voters, almost 50%, according to the polls,” he continued.
Haley accepted donations from Democrats, including Democratic billionaire donor Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn. Open Secrets found that more than 75 percent of the money she raised during the campaign came from large donors.
“At this point, I hope she stays in the ‘race’ and fights it out until the end … and would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation,” Trump wrote.
“BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he concluded.
