Nikki Haley Releases Delegates, Urges Them to Support Trump at Convention | Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley is releasing the delegates she won in this year’s Republican primaries so they are free to support Donald Trump at next week’s convention, a move that helps solidify GOP support for the party’s presumptive nominee.

Haley chose Tuesday to release 97 delegates she won in a dozen primaries and caucuses earlier this year, according to her former campaign.

In a statement, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador called for party unity at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, also calling Democratic President Joe Biden “incompetent to serve a second term” and saying that Vice President Kamala Harris – who Haley has repeatedly suggested would eventually become president in Biden’s place – “would be a disaster for America.”

“We need a president who will hold our enemies accountable, secure our border, reduce our debt and get our economy back on track,” Haley said. “I encourage my delegates to support Donald Trump next week in Milwaukee.”

Haley will not be in Milwaukee next week, according to spokesman Chaney Denton.

“She wasn’t invited and she has no problem with it,” Denton said. “Trump deserves the convention he wants. She’s made it clear she’s voting for him and wishes him the best.”

Haley was the last major Republican rival to oppose Trump when she ended her own campaign after Trump’s landslide victory on Super Tuesday, accusing him of causing chaos and neglecting the importance of America’s alliances abroad.

Trump, in turn, repeatedly ridiculed her as “Birdbrain,” though he halted those attacks after winning enough delegates in March to become the presumptive Republican nominee.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Haley’s decision, which was first reported by Politico.

Biden’s campaign is struggling to win over his supporters, whom it considers genuine swing voters. But Haley said in May that she would vote for Trump and left it to the former president to secure his supporters’ support.