

    Harris focuses on Nikki Haley's primary voters in closing weeks of campaign - CBS News
















Latest

U.S.


World


Politics


Entertainment


HealthWatch


MoneyWatch


Crime


Space


Sports


Brand Studio



Local News

Baltimore


Bay Area


Boston


Chicago


Colorado


Detroit


Los Angeles


Miami


Minnesota


New York


Philadelphia


Pittsburgh


Sacramento


Texas



Live

CBS News 24/7


Baltimore


Bay Area


Boston


Chicago


Colorado


Detroit


Los Angeles


Miami


Minnesota


New York


Philadelphia


Pittsburgh


Sacramento


Texas


48 Hours


60 Minutes



Shows

48 Hours


60 Minutes


America Decides


CBS Evening News


CBS Mornings


CBS Morning News


CBS Reports


CBS Saturday Morning


The Daily Report


The Dish


Eye on America


Face the Nation


Here Comes the Sun


Person to Person


Sunday Morning


The Takeout


The Uplift


Weekender






CBS News Investigates


CBS News Confirmed


CBS Village


Podcasts


In Depth


Newsletters


Download Our App


CBS News Team


Executive Team


Brand Studio


Paramount+


Join Our Talent Community


RSS Feeds


Davos Interviews


A Moment With...


Innovators & Disruptors


Economy 4.0























U.S.


World


Politics


HealthWatch


MoneyWatch


Entertainment


Crime


Sports








Watch CBS News












Politics

Harris focuses on Nikki Haley's primary voters in closing weeks of campaign




    By
                        
              Nidia Cavazos, 
                              
                      Caitlin Huey-Burns


Updated on:  October 23, 2024 / 8:10 PM EDT
          / CBS News
        



















Harris ramps up ground game in battleground states 













Harris campaign ramps up ground game in battleground states
02:05

In the final stretch before the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris embarked on a three-state tour across battleground states to court swing voters — with a particular focus on those who backed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary earlier this year. Harris' pitch was remarkably similar to the foreign policy warning about Trump that Haley delivered when she was a presidential candidate."If Donald Trump were president, Vladimir Putin will be sitting in Kyiv — and understand what that would mean for America and our standing around the world," Harris told Oakland County voters in Michigan on Monday. Claiming Trump would surrender Ukraine to Russia, Harris added, "that is signaling to the President of Russia he can get away with what he has done. Look at the map. Poland would be next."  As a candidate in Michigan earlier this year, Haley warned of the potential consequences of Trump's failure to treat Putin as a threat.  "Once they take Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next," Haley said. "Those are NATO countries that immediately put America at war."


Both Harris and Haley also stressed the need to support American allies, denouncing Trump and Republicans' views on an isolationism they say would move the U.S. closer to war. "Isolationism, which is exactly what Donald Trump is pushing to pull out of NATO and abandon our friends," Harris said Monday. "Isolationism is not insulation. It is not insulation. It will not insulate us from harm in terms of our national security."Haley criticized Trump in similar terms. "Look at the situation that the Republican Party is putting us in and that Donald Trump is encouraging — it's this isolationist approach," Haley told Michigan voters earlier this year. "America can never be so arrogant to think we don't need friends."On Monday, Harris characterized Trump's relationships with dictators as a threat to democracy, a point Haley also made on the campaign trail.   


Trump, Harris said, "is so clearly able to be manipulated by favor and flattery including from dictators and autocrats around the world, and America knows that that is not how we stand."The former U.N. ambassador in January said of Trump, "You don't befriend dictators and thugs who want to kill us." She added, "When I was in the administration with him at the U.N., I literally had to sit him down and tell him to stop this bromance that he had with Putin." Harris and Haley may stand on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but Harris is tapping into their common views on foreign policy and America's role in the world to help persuade undecided moderate Republican and independent voters in suburban areas.  In the counties where Harris campaigned on Monday across Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Haley earned tens of thousands of votes during the Republican primaries — even after she dropped out of the presidential race. A senior Harris campaign official said the campaign believes this is an indication of suburban voters' discontent with Trump. The vice president has been relying on Republicans to help make her appeal to these voters, including former Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken critic of Trump who has endorsed Harris and campaigned with her this week. Harris also hit the trail with other Republicans and former Trump aides earlier this month.In 2020, Joe Biden won Michigan by less than 155,000 votes. In her race against Trump during the primaries, Haley won nearly 55,000 votes in Oakland County, Michigan. Haley dropped out of the presidential race before the Pennsylvania and Wisconsin primaries, but nonetheless, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Haley received 9,000 votes, about 24% of the GOP primary votes in the county. President Biden's margin in Pennsylvania was just 80,000 votes in 2020, and it was even smaller in Wisconsin — a mere 20,000 votes. Haley received 9,000 votes in Waukesha County, Wisconsin.While Harris tries to woo former Haley supporters, Haley herself is ready to campaign for Trump, despite her warnings about him months ago. 


According to a source familiar with the planning, Haley's team has given the Trump campaign availability dates for a potential joint campaign event, and the two teams are working to schedule an appearance before Election Day. Last month, Haley told CBS News' "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" she was happy to be helpful to the campaign if needed."To me, the stark contrast between a Trump and Harris administration are what led me to say, yes, I need to, you know, I'm going to be voting with Trump, and I'm going to speak at the convention," she said. "Do I agree with his style? Do I agree with his approach? Do I agree with his communications? No. When I look at the policies and how they affect my family and how I think they're going to affect the country, that's where I go back and I look at the differences." In an interview with "Fox and Friends" last week, Trump said "I'll do what I have to do" when asked if he'd be requesting Haley's help, but he reiterated that he "beat her badly."


Election 2024

              More
              






How Trump's support among men reshaped the political landscape







Harris declines to invite Vance for courtesy visit to VP's residence







Congress certifies Trump's 2024 victory, 4 years after Capitol attack







Capitol Hill lawmakers experiencing surge of swatting calls, bomb threats







Electoral College meets to cast ballots in 2024 election





            More
            
In:
          Pennsylvania
Kamala Harris
Donald Trump
Wisconsin
Election
Nikki Haley
Michigan

Nidia Cavazos


Nidia Cavazos is a 2024 campaign reporter for CBS News.



                  Instagram
                





© 2024 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.




More from CBS News






          U.S. envoy in Ukraine after Trump blames Zelenskyy for Russia's invasion
        






          Trump calls Zelenskyy a "dictator" after blaming Ukraine for Russia's invasion
        






          Trump's pro-union pick for labor secretary to face confirmation hearing
        






          Marvin Kalb on how a Trump-Putin summit could lead to disaster
        




























Copyright ©2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy
California Notice
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Terms of Use
About
Advertise
Closed Captioning
CBS News Store
Site Map
Contact Us
Help


facebook




twitter




instagram




youtube



View CBS News In




CBS News App

Open





Chrome




Safari

Continue



Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Not Now
Turn On



Maybe focus on leftwing people 