“I appreciated what she said,” Trump said on a local station Thursday.
Former President Donald Trump has finally broken his silence on his first public comments about former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, saying he will vote for her.
“I appreciated what she said,” Trump said News of Long Island 12 When asked about his comments after his rally on Thursday.
Trump suggested there might be a place for Haley on his “team” and called her a “talented person.”
“Does she have a place on your team or better yet your ticket?” asked the reporter.
“Well, I think he’ll be on our team because we have the same ideas, the same thoughts,” Trump said.
“You know, we had a bad campaign; it was bad. But she’s a very talented person, and she’s going to be on our team in one form or another. For sure.”
His comments represented a departure from his usual rhetoric on the campaign trail, when he often referred to Haley as “bird brain” and criticized her intelligence. He focused his attention on Haley for months during the GOP primaries, insisting she stay in the race as other candidates dropped out.
On Wednesday, during her first public speaking event since dropping out of the presidential race, Haley said despite her frustrations with Trump, she still feels he is a better candidate than Biden.
“Trump is not perfect on these policies. I have made that clear many times. But Biden is a disaster. So I will vote for Trump,” Haley said at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
Earlier this month, Trump dismissed the idea of Haley as his running mate, writing on his social media site, “Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the VP slot, but I wish her the best!” In response to a news report that the Trump campaign was considering Haley as its vice presidential nominee.
During his interview with News 12 Thursday night, Trump was also asked about the vice presidential picks. He wouldn’t give his top three choices, but listed a few names he said he was considering: Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. JD Vance and Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Trump said he would make a final decision “sometime during the convention.”
