Donald Trump Betrayed as Longtime Ally Backs GOP Rival

Andrew Stein, longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, is abandoning him for a different Republican candidate, saying that even though Trump has the support to win the 2024 GOP nomination, "today's polling may prove irrelevant."

Stein, the Democrat who crossed party lines to back Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, is endorsing former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for the Republican Party's presidential nominee.

"America needs an alternative, and over the past several months only Ms. Haley has shown any momentum," Stein wrote in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Stein has been friends with Trump for 50 years, having known him since 1973. The son of the late publishing giant Jerry Finkelstein, Stein served as a member of the New York State Assembly for eight years in the 1970s before he was elected borough president of Manhattan in 1977, a position he held for two terms. He was then elected to city council president under former New York City Mayor Ed Koch. Stein was a Democrat in all of those positions.

Stein said on Friday that he doesn't take his endorsement "lightly," praising Trump's first term for the Republican president's handling of the economy, the U.S.-Mexico border and international relations.

"But a Trump reelection would be difficult, and half the country will never accept him as president," he said. "It would keep us divided while we face international situations that require this country to be unified."

Stein said that even though polls continue to show Trump as the Republican front-runner who could defeat President Joe Biden in the primaries, the former president's mounting legal challenges could make those numbers "irrelevant."

Trump is facing several lawsuits, both civil and criminal. He's been indicted four times this year, racking up 91 felony charges, including counts in Manhattan related to the hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels and racketeering allegations in Georgia related to efforts to overturn the results of the state's 2020 presidential election. He's also been indicted twice by the Department of Justice, over the Mar-a-Lago classified documents and a separate election interference case. Trump is also currently being tried in the business fraud case filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"If Mr. Trump is found guilty of some of the charges against him, voters would have to choose between an old felon and an old fool," Stein said.

Instead, Stein called on the Republican Party to embrace Haley, touting her economic record during her stint as governor, her approach to race relations in the U.S. and her ability to navigate GOP weaknesses like abortion. He also pointed to her foreign-policy experience as the former ambassador to the United Nations, noting that other presidential candidates, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Tim Scott and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, "have not such credentials."

"Ms. Haley is likely to have a broader appeal than Mr. Trump for independents and suburbanites, especially women," Stein said. "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 recently made strides in primary polling, going from fourth place to third, behind Trump and DeSantis, respectively. While Trump remains the favorite with nearly 57 percent support among Republicans, Haley has 8 percent support to DeSantis' 14 percent, a tracker from FiveThirtyEight shows. In February, Haley only had 4 percent to DeSantis' 32 percent.

Stein has been a fan of Haley for some time. In 2019, he wrote an op-ed calling on Trump to dump Mike Pence as his running mate in favor of Haley.

Newsweek reached out to Trump and Haley's campaigns via email for comment on Friday.