Former Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis were among the featured speakers Tuesday, showing support for Donald Trump, during night two of the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Haley Shows Support for Trump: When running against Trump in the 2024 election, Haley and DeSantis were among the biggest critics of the former president and often were subject to name-calling and criticism from Trump as well.
On Tuesday, those feelings and former fighting shifted to the background with Haley and DeSantis rallying support for Trump in his 2024 election fight against Joe Biden.
Haley was met with cheers and boos when she took the stage, as reported by the New York Post, which could signal some division in the party remains. During the Trump administration, Haley was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (Jan. 2017 to Dec. 2018).
"I'll start by making one thing perfectly clear: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period," Haley said.
The public endorsement comes as Haley had distanced herself somewhat from Trump following dropping out of the race in March. Haley did not initially endorse the former president when she dropped out.
Speaking to her supporters at the RNC, Haley encouraged voting for Trump over Biden.
"My message to them is simple: You don't have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him."
Haley also cautioned voters over Biden's age and mental fitness.
"If we have four more years of Biden or a single day of Harris, our country will be badly worse off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump."
DeSantis Rallies Voters at RNC: DeSantis spoke to the RNC crowd after Haley and received mostly applause.
The Florida governor said Republicans need to send Biden "back to his basement."
DeSantis' speech didn't focus on much as the unity of the Republican party, choosing to also attack Biden and accusing the current president of being a "tool" for the leftist agenda.
"Donald Trump has been demonized. He's been sued. He's been prosecuted and he nearly lost his life. We cannot let him down, and we can not let America down," DeSantis said.
DeSantis ended his speech with "fight! fight! fight!," echoing the new rally cry from Trump after he was shot.
DeSantis, who was once ahead of Trump in the polls, dropped out of the presidential race in January and immediately pledged his support to the former president.
Why It's Important: Having Haley and DeSantis speak at the 2024 Republican National Convention could show continued support for Trump from within the party.
The selection of both former political rivals also shows a theme of unity, which Trump has said was a main goal following the assassination attempt made on him last weekend.
"President Trump asked me to speak at this convention in the name of unity," Haley said. "It was a gracious invitation and I was happy to accept."
Haley said a "unified Republican Party" could be essential in winning the election and saving the country.
"We must not only be a unified party. We must also expand our party. We are so much better when we're bigger. We are stronger when we welcome people into our party who have different backgrounds and experiences."
Trump will speak at the RNC on Thursday with a newly written speech. The former president said he rewrote his speech that mostly attacked Biden and Democrats favoring a speech on unity after the assassination attempt.
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