A growing number of American business leaders are rallying behind former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley as the Republican Party's presidential hopeful, seeing her as more stable than rival Donald Trump, and more favorable to business interests than incumbent Joe Biden.

"Even if you're a very liberal Democrat, I urge you: Help Nikki Haley, too. Get a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump," Jamie Dimon, who as head of JPMorgan Chase bank is often seen as one of the country's most powerful CEOs, said.

For the last month or so, the growing list of entrepreneurs and business leaders lining up behind Trump's former United Nations ambassador, stumping for her, swelling her campaign coffers or considering doing so as her standing in polls strengthens, include Charles Koch, one of the biggest donors in United States politics, and billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller.

In early December, during a fundraiser in a luxury apartment on the Upper West Side of New York, Haley raked in more than $500,000 in pledges from members of the city's business elite.

As of late October, Haley was polling at less than 10 percent for the Iowa caucuses, the first vote on the US political calendar, on 15 January. Now she stands at nearly 18 percent, almost on par with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has around 19 percent.

Haley was "impressive in the debates," David Primo, a political science professor at Rochester University, said, adding that "business leaders are concerned about the potential instability of another Trump presidency."

"She has experience as a governor of a state and was viewed as, generally speaking, friendly to business," Primo added.

The 51-year-old is even starting to win over some Democrats, such as investor Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.

"Nikki Haley is a competent politician," Hoffman recently told Barron's magazine.

Haley advocates tax cuts, a gradual return to balanced budgets, and raising the minimum retirement age.

A recent poll from the Harris Institute gave Haley a better chance against Biden than Trump, who is facing multiple trials in four venues on a host of charges.   

WITH AFP