Nikki Haley says Susan Collins showed a ‘steel spine’ for backing her over Trump in GOP primary

PORTLAND, Maine – Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, “courageous” for breaking with the vast majority of officials in her party to back Haley over former President Donald Trump.

“When all the fellas are falling in line, she showed why she's got a steel spine,” Haley said of Collins during a rally at an Elks Club in Portland on Sunday, two days before Super Tuesday.

“Thank you for showing the fellas that you've got more balls than them,” Haley said, to cheers from the crowd.

Collins was not in attendance at the event. The Maine senator had previously praised Haley for her “energy, intellect, and temperament” in a statement on Friday and said she had voted for the former South Carolina governor in the Republican primary.

She was the third member of Congress to back Haley, joining Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. Trump, the frontrunner in the race, has drawn support from a majority of Republican lawmakers in Congress, including more than 30 of Collins' Senate colleagues.

Trump and his allies have ramped up rhetoric against Haley and her supporters in recent months. After the New Hampshire primary, the ex-president said he would permanently ban Haley’s donors from his wing of the party.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, a staunch Trump supporter, earlier this week also issued a warning on social media for conservatives who back Haley.

“If you’re fighting Trump and his endorsed candidates politically today, don’t ask for my help in a year with your legislation or your pet projects,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after Collins' released her statement.

Haley made the comments while campaigning in Portland, Maine’s most populated city, ahead of the state’s presidential primary on March 5. It is one of the 15 states and one territory hosting elections on that date.

Haley notched a win Sunday in the District of Columbia's Republican primary, breaking a string of losses against Trump, who has trounced her in all of the other early states so far.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nikki Haley says Susan Collins has 'steel spine' for endorsement