Trump’s Onetime Rivals Praise Him in Orchestrated Show of Unity
(Bloomberg) -- Nikki Haley once called Donald Trump “totally unhinged” and “diminished.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis previously said the former president would embrace the most “worthless Republicans” if they “kiss the ring.”
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On Tuesday, they said he’s the best man to be the next president.
A parade of Trump’s primary rivals took the stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to line up behind the man they once derided, a required public show of loyalty to ensure their future in a party firmly in Trump’s grasp.
The evening offered a chance for Trump to broaden his appeal beyond his most loyal supporters in his bid to defeat President Joe Biden. But the appearances by his challengers, along with 2016 opponents Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz — was an unmistakable sign of Trump’s total control over the party.
The former president has flexed his hold in recent months, tapping his daughter-in-law as a co-chair of the Republican National Committee and by helping draft the party’s platform.
It also made clear that the talk of unity following the attempted assassination against Trump referred to the Republican Party and not to the nation as a whole. While Haley urged Republicans to sway more people to their side, saying “we’re so much better when we’re bigger,” other speakers accused Biden of allowing the country to be overwhelmed by illegal immigrants and fentanyl.
‘Go for Trump’
Haley wasn’t originally scheduled to speak at the convention but agreed to after her team and Trump’s discussed her appearing at the event in recent days. Haley walked on stage to applause and some boos, telling the audience Trump invited her to speak “in the name of unity.”
“For the sake of our nation, we have to go for Trump,” Haley said, casting her support for him as strong and leading Trump to stand up from his seat next to his running mate, JD Vance.
The two listened from plush white chairs in a blocked off section of the arena. Trump still wore the white bandage over his right ear three days after it was grazed by a would-be assassin’s bullet at a Pennsylvania rally.
He smiled politely when Haley noted their differences, saying “we agree more often than we disagree. We agree on keeping America strong.”
He also appeared to mouth the word “true” when Haley suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attack Ukraine under the former president’s watch because Trump was tough. During the primary, Haley split with Trump over Ukraine, backing continued US assistance to Kyiv.
The former UN ambassador under Trump said her speech was aimed at those voters still skeptical of backing the former president.
“My message is simple, you don’t need to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him,” Haley said.
DeSantis took the stage after Haley, urging voters to “make the 45th president of the United States, the 47th president.” Also at the convention, DeSantis is meeting with Iowa Republicans, a sit-down to court the early caucus state if he decides to run to be the 48th president.
Border Crisis
Successive speakers touched on the evening’s theme — making America safe again — with repeated criticisms of Biden’s border policies, painting his presidency in apocalyptic terms, including with a video that sought to blame Biden for sex traffickers, drug gangs and terrorists crossing the border.
“We are facing an invasion on our southern border, not figuratively, a literal invasion,” Cruz told the crowd.
The surge in migrants has proven to be one of Biden’s most vexing challenges. Republicans have seized on the crisis, which polls show is a defining issue for voters, rejecting at Trump’s urging a bipartisan Senate compromise that aimed to bolster border security and in the process denying Biden a political win.
The president has turned to executive action to crack down on the border with new restrictions that seek to deter migrants’ ability to seek asylum.
Trump is vowing to enact sweeping immigration reforms if elected that would test the boundaries of US law, including mass deportations. During the campaign, the former president has seized on violent crime allegedly committed by migrants, dubbing it “Biden migrant crime.”
--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron and Stephanie Lai.
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