Longtime Trump backer dumps him for Nikki Haley: 'Half the country will never accept him'

Andrew Stein, the former Democratic council president of New York City, has considered himself a longtime supporter of former President Donald Trump. But in a Wall Street Journal editorial published on Friday, he announced he is abandoning Trump to support former South Carolina governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential race instead.

"A Trump re-election would be difficult, and half the country will never accept him as president," wrote Stein. "Mr. Trump’s poll numbers show him with a clear path to the Republican nomination and rising ahead of Joe Biden. Given his mounting legal troubles, however, today’s polling may prove irrelevant."

Stein praised Haley's record, citing among other things her economic performance while running South Carolina, her decision to sidestep some of the worst culture war issues like anti-transgender legislation, and her support for Israel — and adding that other challengers, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, simply don't have her profile of experience.

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"Ms. Haley is likely to have a broader appeal than Mr. Trump for independents and suburbanites, especially women," argued Stein. "The Democrats hope he wins the nomination and is convicted of felonies, leading him to lose the presidential election. Republicans need to consolidate around Ms. Haley so they have a credible nominee who can take on any Democrat."

Haley has in recent weeks stepped up her offensive against Trump, accusing him of skipping out on money he owes to law enforcement based on reporting from Raw Story.

Despite all of this, she is currently mired well behind Trump in polling, with FiveThirtyEight's aggregate showing the former president's numbers exceeding everyone else in the field combined and Haley stuck at 8 percent.