By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is appealing directly to supporters of former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who was the last major opponent to Donald Trump before she withdrew from the race earlier this month.
“Nikki Haley voters, Donald Trump doesn’t want your vote,” Biden said in a social media post on Friday that included a link to a new ad from his campaign. “I want to be clear: There is a place for you in my campaign.”
The ad shows video clips of Trump blasting Haley as “birdbrain” and dismissing her candidacy.
“She’s gone crazy, she’s a very angry person,” Trump said in one video clip of his former ambassador to the United Nations.
A source close to Haley said neither the Biden nor Trump campaigns had reached out to her about gaining the support of the people who voted for her.
A Trump representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Haley stuck with her presidential race when other Trump challengers had dropped out, promising policies that appealed to Republicans who had rejected Trump.
Almost 570,000 voters in three key battleground states – Nevada, North Carolina, and Michigan – voted for Haley in the Republican nominating contest, a small but potentially significant group in races that have been decided by tiny margins in recent elections.
Many Haley voters have wondered if they still have a place in the Republican Party, which has coalesced around Trump, despite his repeated lies about having won the 2020 election against Biden, and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Biden, 81, will need as much support as he can muster. He has faced concerns about his age and fitness for a second four-year term. Recent Reuters/Ipsos polls show his approval rating at 40% and in a tight race with Trump, 77, ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Tim Reid; Editing by Heather Timmons and Bill Berkrot)
