What do the two Cabinet nominees announced by President-elect Trump have in common? Yes, they are both women. But more importantly, neither was an enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley used her response to President Obama's State of the Union address to implicitly rebuke Trump. She made it explicit in interviews afterward. She endorsed not one but two different Republican presidential candidates — Marco Rubio, then Ted Cruz — before finally offering tepid support to Trump.
Even during her speech to the Federalist Society, an important conservative legal group, in which she described herself as "thrilled" about Trump's win, Haley suggested his victory wasn't a ringing endorsement of Republican principles.
Now Haley is set to be Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump's pick for secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, never endorsed him at all. "I don't think Donald Trump represents the Republican Party," she told the Washington Examiner earlier this year.
Get the Exclusive
01.12.2025