‘I Didn’t Get a Lot Of Pushback’: Nikki Haley Responds to Criticism Over Endorsing Trump

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley pushed back against those criticizing her for endorsing former President Donald Trump.

Haley was one of the most vocal critics of the former president during the GOP primary, where she questioned if he was mentally fit for the Oval Office. Back in February, she claimed it would be “like suicide for our country” for the GOP to nominate Trump a third time for the general election.

However, recently Haley endorsed Trump during her speech at the Republican National Convention, praising the former president for his foreign policy record. During Trump’s first term in office, Haley worked in his administration as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

During an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Thursday, Haley responded to her critics by claiming she did not receive “a lot of pushback” from Republicans for supporting Trump.

TAPPER: When you announced that you were going to vote for Donald Trump, you got a lot of pushback from Republicans who supported you. What do you say to them? What do you say to them when they say that they were with you? They agree that Donald Trump is bad for the Republican Party, bad for the country. And they thought that you you agreed with them and they feel like you sold out.

HALEY: I didn’t get a lot of pushback from Republicans. What I will tell you is I have a great respect for those who stood with me. I am incredibly grateful. These were people who saw the fact that our border was out of control. They saw that debt was out of control, and our kids are going to pay for it. They wanted national security that was going to keep America safe. They believed in mental competency tests. They believed in term limits. And they wanted Americans to have a choice for someone they could be proud of. That was what we fought for. That’s what we did. And millions joined us.

And so I wanted what they wanted. We were in it together, and I loved the fight that we had together. But we’ve been given a choice. It’s Trump or it’s Harris. And so what I did was I said, this is who I will be voting for. I also said, I don’t agree with Trump 100% of the time, and I don’t expect them to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for them. But I wanted them to think about it through my eyes and how I thought about it. Since then, we’ve heard from a lot of people who appreciated my making the case for it. And, you know, I’m going to continue to be true to myself and true to what I fought for, and I’m going to continue to fight for that regardless of whether it’s in a position or not. I’m always going to fight for the country that we all love.

Watch the clip above via CNN.