CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Republican presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley came to Colorado Tuesday, despite the state Republican Party tossing out its neutrality rules to endorse her opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Haley paid $40,000 to the Colorado Republican Party to be allowed on the primary ballot, and the party paid her back by endorsing Trump.
She told 9NEWS at her campaign rally that she did not have any conversations with Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams about that decision,
"This is a pattern that we're seeing that's happening across the country. I mean, we're seeing a split in the Republican Party where it has become more about Donald Trump than it's become about the country," Haley said.
That was a theme of Nikki Haley's 32-minute speech at Wings over the Rockies in Centennial.
She told voters why they shouldn't consider Donald Trump, even though she supported him in the past.
"This is not personal for me against Donald Trump. I voted for Donald Trump twice," Haley told 9NEWS.
When asked if she would vote for him if he won the Republican nomination, she wouldn't say.
"Well, when you're running against someone, you don't think about what you're going to do later, you're in the moment, you're in the state, you're focuses on what's happening. I have said very clearly, I have serious concerns about Donald Trump. I have more concerns about Joe Biden," Haley said.
Notably absent from Haley's rally today were elected Republicans in Colorado.
The closest to an elected state Republican was former Colorado Springs City Councilman and former Secretary of State Wayne Williams.
When asked what it says that no current Republican elected official came to support her, Haley said that wasn't her goal.
"We don't try and get the political class. That's never been anything I've done in my entire career. I've always focused on real people, on regular people," Haley said.
Nikki Haley in Colorado
Regular people like Republican voters, who did attend.
"I supported Donald Trump, but he's scaring me now," Rally attendee Floyd Merenkov said.
"Actually, I prayed for the Secret Service to take his phone away, God did not answer my prayers," Ann Trudeau, another Republican voter, said of Trump.
When asked if Trump would be her fall-back option, Trudeau told 9NEWS "Hell no."
9NEWS reporter Marshall Zelinger pressed Haley about her own stance.
"You spent about 10 minutes on why people shouldn't vote for Donald Trump. But if you end up voting for him, why should anybody have listened to anything you said today?" He asked.
"I'm not talking about anything but running. I'm talking about defeating him," Haley replied.
A notable Colorado Republican in attendance told 9NEWS that elected Republicans who might not support Trump are likely afraid of him, and that even if they're in a safe Republican district, they are worried about getting primaried by a Trump Republican if they were seen at Haley's rally.
More on the 2024 election:
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Next with Kyle Clark