US business leaders start to rally behind Republican hopeful Haley

A growing number of United States 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 favourable to business interests than incumbent Joe Biden.

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

For the last month or so, a growing list of entrepreneurs and business leaders have been 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.

In early December, during a fund-raiser in a luxury apartment on the Upper West Side of New York, Ms Haley raked in more than US$500,000 (S$670,000) in pledges from members of the city's business elite.

"I think a lot of donors, including business people, were initially sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see how it would shake out, who could be left standing" after months of campaigning, said political science professor David Primo of Rochester University.