Donald Trump’s former primary rivals pledged to support the ex-president at the Republican convention on Tuesday night, offering a united front designed to contrast sharply with fractures plaguing their Democratic opponents.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who assailed Trump’s “chaos” when she fought him for the Republican nomination this year, told a raucous crowd that greeted her with boos: “Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period.”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who was derided by Trump’s campaign during the primary race, also came out forcefully for his former rival.
“He’s been sued, he’s been prosecuted and he nearly lost his life,” DeSantis said, referring to the attempted assassination of Trump on Saturday. “We cannot let him down, and we cannot let America down,” he added, drawing applause from the former president, who was again sporting a bandage on his right ear.
The appearance of both one-time Republican rivals, along with another primary candidate, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, earlier in the evening, came on the second day of a carefully choreographed convention that showed the kind of discipline and co-ordinated messaging not normally associated with Trump’s political operation.
The rapturous reception that greeted DeSantis and Ramaswamy, who hammered the White House’s record on economic and social issues, came as Democrats on Capitol Hill were strategising on how to slow a rush to nominate Joe Biden before their August convention in Chicago.
Haley, a UN ambassador under Trump, had sharpened her attacks against her former boss during the Republican primaries and did not immediately endorse him when she ended her presidential bid after failing to win a single state. She later said she would vote for the former president in November.
“Our country is at a critical moment. We have a choice to make . . . for the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump,” she said on Tuesday.
Haley, whose criticism of Trump made her a hated figure among the former president’s most ardent supporters, was a late addition to the convention line-up and her presence onstage was not entirely well received.
Some Republican delegates jeered her and called her a “warmonger” as she approached the podium, and her “big tent” message that the party needed to appeal to those who disagreed with Trump was met with tepid applause.
“You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 per cent of the time to vote for him,” she said.
Despite the bad blood that remains between the two Republicans, Haley said she agreed to speak because Trump had invited her to appear “in the name of unity” after he was shot at a campaign rally on Saturday in Pennsylvania.
Trump — sitting in a VIP box next to his running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance — nodded approvingly and stood to applaud Haley at the end of her speech.
Haley was followed by DeSantis, who during the primary campaign had dismissed fellow Republicans who “kiss[ed] the ring” of Trump.
“You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, he’ll say you’re wonderful,” DeSantis said of the former president on the eve of the Iowa caucuses in January. “You can be the strongest, most dynamic, successful Republican and conservative in America ― but if you don’t kiss that ring, then he’ll try to trash you.”
But on Tuesday, DeSantis became the night’s most ardent cheerleader for his former rival, tearing into Biden and rallying Republicans to turn out for Trump.
“America cannot afford four more years of a ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ presidency,” DeSantis said of Biden, in a reference to the 1980s comedy film about a dead man propped up by his employees.
“If not us, who? If not now, when? Let’s make the 45th president of the United States the 47th president of the United States,” he said. “Let’s heed the call of our party’s nominee to ‘fight, fight, fight’ for these United States.”
On the packed floor of the convention arena, delegates celebrated Trump’s survival of the attempt on his life as divine intervention — and a sign for the country.
“We believe that coming out of here, not only is the Republican party going to be unified, we believe that he’s going to be able to unify the country,” said Mark Gonzales, a delegate from Texas.
“Coming into this, we couldn’t help but think about how different this week would have looked had things gone the other way,” said Spencer Gross, a delegate from Ohio, in reference to Trump’s narrow avoidance of serious injury or death at the weekend.
Gross described Trump’s initial appearance in the convention hall on Monday night as “one of the most special moments I’ve ever experienced in person”, adding: “There’s a lot of unity in this room and in this party right now.”
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