As Nikki Haley backs Trump, many supporters favor Kamala Harris

Even as Indian American Republican leader Nikki Haley is backing her former presidential rival Donald Trump, several of her former state campaign committee members have endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, publicly breaking with Haley.

“This year the election may well be decided by independents and former Haley supporters,” wrote Tom Evslin, who co-chaired Haley’s Vermont state leadership team, in an op-ed Wednesday for the Vermont Daily Chronicle.

Evslin, who voted against then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 and against Trump in 2020, wrote that he “will be happy to vote FOR Harris if she consistently articulates a strong foreign policy, CNBC reported.

The same day, two former members of Haley’s Michigan state leadership team also urged Republicans to support the Democratic ticket of Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“As Republicans, we believe character and integrity matter,” business consultant Jimmy Greene and communications expert Bill Nowling wrote in a joint op-ed for the Michigan Chronicle. “That’s why we proudly supported Ambassador Nikki Haley for president and were part of her Michigan Leadership Team.”

Nowling is also a co-chair of the group Republicans for Harris, which includes Republican former Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Denver Riggleman of Virginia.

The latest endorsements came five days after Haley’s former Iowa state co-chair Dawn Roberts announced she would back Harris.

In a guest column for the Des Moines Register, Roberts wrote that while she is “a lifelong Republican,” she was dismayed by both parties when Trump and President Joe Biden appeared to be the top candidates.

When Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris as his replacement, “I decided to see who she really was,” wrote Roberts. “I was impressed with how she handled herself saying that she wanted to ‘earn everyone’s support.’ She showed willingness to listen to a wider range of views to solve problems.”

“So I am supporting Kamala Harris for president,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, Georgia news outlet AJC Politics suggested Haley’s voters in Georgia could play a decisive role in November.

READ: ‘This time it’s Haitians, next time it might be Indians’ (September 27, 2024)

“Call it Georgia’s Nikki Haley bloc. The former South Carolina governor captured 77,000 votes in Georgia’s March primary, most of them after she quit her presidential campaign,” it wrote noting, “That’s more than six times the number of votes that separated Donald Trump and Joe Biden in Georgia in 2020.”

However, Haley told listeners Wednesday not to expect her to say “glowing things” Trump’s personality, in the debut episode of her SiriusXM show “Nikki Haley Live.”

Haley said she stood by the criticisms of Trump she made during their heated 2024 primary battle and defended her subsequent endorsement of the Republican nominee.

“So I said exactly what I thought about Joe Biden, about Donald Trump and about Kamala Harris. If I thought either one of those candidates were great, I wouldn’t have run for office. So that is where we are. I don’t take anything back. I stand by that,” Haley said.

“And so you’re going to see me be honest on the show, as well,” she continued. “But I think that it’s also important to say that on this show, you’re not going to hear me say glowing things about Donald Trump’s personality. I have issues with him, as well.”

Haley, the last candidate standing against Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, explained why, despite the ill feeling between them before she dropped out, she decided to endorse the former president nonetheless.

“But politics is not for thin-skinned people. It’s just not. And I think that if you really want to do a service for your country, you have to be able to put the personal part of it aside,” she said.

Haley said she’s looking at the race “as a voter” and with an eye toward what’s best for the country.

“I’m looking at what I think will make the country better. So that’s what you’re going to hear on the show,” she said. “You’re just going to hear the truth. Sometimes I’ll think someone does something good. I’ll say it. Sometimes I think they do something bad. I’ll say that, too.

“But I think the best way to serve your country is to not get personal, but focus on where we are with the economy, focus where we are with the border, focus on national security, focus on freedom, and what it means for our country,” Haley continued. “And so that’s what I hope that we will do.”