A group of Nikki Haley supporters from Vermont to Arizona met with President Joe Biden’s campaign on Wednesday night almost immediately after she announced her plan to vote for Donald Trump, The Daily Beast has learned.
In the previously unreported meeting, a Biden campaign representative listened to the concerns of top Haley supporters from various states as part of Bidenworld’s ongoing outreach to win over Haley voters.
“The fact they actually sent someone last night to speak to a small group … I think that’s a good signal that they’re aware there are huge numbers of Haley voters out there,” Robert Schwartz, founder of the Haley Voters For Biden PAC, told The Daily Beast. Schwartz said the meeting was highly encouraging, and likened it to other listening sessions the Biden campaign has done with the pro-Palestinian uncommitted vote.
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The Biden campaign did not immediately return a request for comment on the meeting.
Ever since the GOP primary wrapped up, the Biden team has identified Haley voters as a key persuasion target with a unique set of key issues, particularly around Trump’s attacks on democracy and the general notion of restoring decency to the office. The Biden campaign has continued trying to refine their definition of a persuadable Haley voter over the past few months, focusing on paid media, Haley’s margins in key battleground precincts from the primary, and simply listening to their concerns.
Notably, Haley made sure to point out in her remarks about planning to vote for Trump that she still wants to see his campaign work to court her supporters, something the Trump campaign has largely ignored since the end of the primary.
Haley called Biden’s term in office “catastrophic,” but Schwartz said he’s still optimistic that Haley voters will ultimately shuffle over into the Biden column.
“She has a very wide coalition of voters, including some from the center-left, the center, and conservatives. And I think among strong conservatives, there are a lot of disagreements about Biden’s policy,” Schwartz said. “While I respectfully disagree with her decision to support Trump, I would also respectfully disagree with her characterization of Biden being catastrophic.”
The continued outreach is the most encouraging sign for Schwartz, who called the impromptu meeting “a big deal.”
“That’s an important development: the Biden campaign isn’t only investing in digital ads and the traditional media to reach out to Haley voters,” Schwartz said, “but now we've been asking them to actually come and talk to them just like they've been talking to uncommitted voters and listen to what Haley voters are asking for and what their policy priorities are.”
A Zoom meeting may not be the most earth-shattering development in the campaign so far, but Schwartz said it’s a crucial step for the Biden campaign to gain an edge with this key voting bloc.
“It's critical that they make a serious, genuine effort to listen to them.”
