Washington, Jul 10 (IANS): Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in early March, has said that she is releasing her delegates to the Republican National Convention (RNC), urging them to support former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and former US ambassador to the United Nations, said on Tuesday in a statement that the upcoming nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a time for Republican "unity," as reported by Xinhua news agency.

Haley, who had fiercely criticised the former president, explicitly said in a May speech that she would vote for Trump, despite the contentious issues that arose between them during the Republican presidential primaries.

Haley is not invited to the 2024 RNC, but she has made it clear she's voting for him, spokeswoman Chaney Denton was quoted by CNN as saying.

According to The Associated Press' estimate, Haley earned 97 delegates during the primary process.

Trump has garnered 2,265 delegates so far, far exceeding the 1,215 benchmark needed for the party's nomination.

Haley's call for "unity" within the Republican Party comes at a time when US President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is facing mounting pressure to withdraw from the race due to concerns about his physical and mental fitness.

Trump leads Biden by 3.3 percentage points, according to the latest average polling data from Real Clear Politics.