MILWAUKEE- The day after Donald Trump was officially nominated as the GOP’s 2024 presidential candidate and announced Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate, Nikki Haley, Trump’s final rival during the presidential primaries, will be taking the spotlight at the Republican National Convention. Multiple sources confirmed that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration, will speak at the convention on Tuesday.
Initially, Haley was not invited to speak at the convention and had no plans to attend. However, after Saturday’s attempted assassination on Trump at a rally in western Pennsylvania, where one spectator was killed and Trump was visibly bloodied, the GOP quickly rallied around Trump. As a show of unity, Haley was invited to speak at the convention.
Haley had launched her presidential campaign in February the previous year, becoming the first major candidate to challenge Trump. She was the final rival to Trump, competing with him in a contentious two-candidate showdown from the New Hampshire primary in late January through Super Tuesday in early March. Haley eventually suspended her campaign on March 6, the day after Trump swept 14 of 15 GOP nominating contests on Super Tuesday.
In late May, Haley expressed her support for Trump and urged all her delegates to back him. Trump, in an interview with Fox News, mentioned that there was tension between him and Haley, stating that she should have dropped out of the race earlier like Governor Ron DeSantis did.
The second night of the convention will also feature several high-profile Republican Senate candidates addressing GOP delegates. The GOP aims to regain the majority in the Senate that it lost during the 2020 election cycle, thanks in part to a favorable Senate electoral map.
Trump, just before his formal nomination during the convention’s presidential roll call, revealed his choice for running mate. Senator JD Vance of Ohio was chosen as Trump’s running mate, solidifying Trump’s influence in the Republican Party. Vance, a former venture capitalist and author of the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” was a leading contender for the position.
The announcement of Vance as the running mate came as a surprise to many, including other contenders like Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum, who were informed last minute that they were not selected. Vance himself only found out he was chosen as the running mate 20 minutes before Trump made the announcement on social media.
The addition of JD Vance to the Republican ticket signals a shift towards a future dominated by Trump and his supporters. The Republican Party is gearing up for a new era with Trump at the forefront and key figures like Nikki Haley and JD Vance playing significant roles in the upcoming presidential campaign.