By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden appealed to voters of Nikki Haley to back him in the November election, after the last remaining rival to Donald Trump dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination on Wednesday.
Biden said Haley, the former South Carolina governor, was willing to speak the truth about Trump, including “the chaos that always follows him” and “his inability to see right from wrong.”
“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement.
“I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. 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.”
Haley, whose voters typically were moderate Republicans and independents, made the announcement in a speech in Charleston a day after Super Tuesday, when Trump beat her soundly in 14 of 15 Republican nominating contests. Her exit ensures Trump will be the Republican party’s candidate in a rematch with Biden.
Trump criticized Haley, who was his ambassador to the United Nations when he was president, on the Truth Social media platform before inviting her supporters to join him.
“Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion,” he wrote.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly, editing by Deepa Babington)
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