Political action committee “Haley Vote for Harris”, which has process President Biden and rebranding to support Kamala Harris’ Vice Presidential Campaignhas received a cease and desist letter from former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
In a letter sent Tuesday by the law firm representing Haley’s presidential campaign, they wrote that the group should “cease and desist from using the unauthorized name of Ambassador Haley in the name of your political action committee, and from using his name, image or likeness. support for the election of Kamala Harris as President of the United States.”
“Ambassador Haley has been clear in his support of Harris’ opponents. Any intimation that Ambassador Haley supports Harris is deliberately false and misleading,” the letter added.
This was first reported by Fox News.
In response, the Haley Voters for Harris group said it was reviewing the letter with legal counsel, and that it “does not claim to be Ambassador Haley or her views.”
“Our right to engage with voters and encourage them to elect Vice President Harris — who we believe is the better choice for the country — will not be suppressed,” the group said in a statement.
The group, which included anti-Trump supporters and volunteers during Haley’s GOP primary campaign, has worked closely with the Biden campaign as Haley continued to receive hundreds of thousands of GOP primary votes despite leaving the race shortly after Super Tuesday in March.
But since Mr. Biden stopped from Friday’s race, the group has shifted support to Harris, who Mr. Biden approved. While Harris has received enough support from delegates to become the candidate, there will be no official candidate until the party holds a virtual call, which is it is expected to happen in early August.
In several battleground states, Haley’s raw vote totals exceeded the 2020 general election margin between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump. In Pennsylvania, where Mr. Biden won by more than 80,000 votes, Haley got 16.6% of the vote, 158,000 votes, in this year’s GOP primary.
Austin Weatherford, the Harris campaign’s national Republican engagement director, said Haley and non-Trump Republican voters still have a home with the campaign.
“Our democracy is at its best when Americans speak up and participate in the election process,” he said. “As the MAGA movement continues to turn away voters who care about the future of our democracy, stand strong with our allies against foreign enemies, and work across the aisle to get things done for the American people, the Harris campaign will continue to work hard to gain support.”
Weatherford is also a former aide to former Rep. Republican Adam Kinzinger, who has been vocal against Trump and has supported Harris since Mr. Biden resigned and endorsed him.
Haley’s voters for Harris’ group have suggested that Harris choose a moderate for his running mate, and specifically cited Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
“Unlike Joe Biden, we believe he doesn’t need to unify his base,” said a senior adviser, citing early Democratic voters’ enthusiasm for his candidacy. “And we hope his campaign will focus on expanding to the middle of the country.”
“We feel that jobs are in some ways almost more important, because they are less defined for the public and Republicans try to paint them in a way that doesn’t reflect reality,” he said.
During the presidential campaign, Haley often proactively suggested that Harris would be the Democratic nominee, citing Mr. Biden’s age.
While she was also critical of former president Donald Trump during his primary run, Haley has since given her “strong endorsement” of the GOP nominee. In July speech at the Republican National Conventionhe said Trump’s invitation for him to speak was “cheap”.
“If we have four more years of Biden or one more day of Harris, our country will be worse off,” Haley said in her convention speech, before Mr. Biden dropped out of the race. “For the sake of our nation, we must stand with Donald Trump.”