Kinzinger calls Haley’s support for Trump ‘pathetic’

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) criticized former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley for saying Wednesday that she plans to support former President Trump over President Biden in the general election come November.

“Not a surprise but: Pathetic,” Kinzinger wrote in response to the news.

Haley was the last Trump challenger standing in the Republican primary race for the 2024 presidential nomination when she suspended her campaign in March.

Throughout the race, Haley carefully balanced challenging the race’s front-runner on issues and not isolating his voters. In her last few weeks of the primary race, however, she grew increasingly critical of the former president, as he frequently lobbed insults at her and pressured her to end her campaign.

When Haley ultimately withdrew from the race, she did not endorse the former president and cautioned him against banking on her supporters, saying he would need to earn their votes.

Haley did not endorse the former president Wednesday but said she came to the decision to vote for him because of policy agreements.

“As a voter, I put my priorities on a president who’s going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account, who would secure the border, no more excuses,” Haley said at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. “A president who would support capitalism and freedom, a president who understands we need less debt not more debt.”

“Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I’ve made that clear, many, many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump,” she added.