Uncomfortable Nikki Haley backers weigh their options with Election Day looming
Kamala Harris’ deployment of prominent Republican Trump critics hasn’t convinced a new focus group of voters who backed Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary.
Kamala Harris’ deployment of prominent Republican Trump critics hasn’t convinced a new focus group of voters who backed Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary.
But even if many of these Haley voters won’t cast their ballot for Harris this fall, the constant controversy surrounding Trump may cost him votes this fall — a dynamic typified by the almost universally negative reaction to the harsh and at times racist rhetoric at Donald Trump’s weekend rally in New York City.
Such reaction was seen among the 11 focus group participants in a new NBC News Deciders Focus Group conducted Monday evening, produced in collaboration with Syracuse University and the research firms Engagious and Sago. For many of these Haley supporters, particularly the seven Republicans and three independents, the episode was a reminder of why they soured on Trump in the first place.
“These voters show us two camps of Nikki Haley backers: those so turned off by former President Trump that they’ll vote third-party, stay home or even vote for Vice President Harris to keep Trump out of the White House, and those who will hold their nose and vote Trump because he’s the Republican nominee and they’re Republicans," said Margaret Talev, the director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship in Washington.
"Most of the voters we heard from have known for months which camp they’re in," she continued. "Endorsement for Harris from the Cheneys, or ex-Trump Cabinet officials, weren’t moving the needle, though the offensive Trump rally at Madison Square Garden might yet sway some still weighing their choices.”
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