Even in Haley’s backyard, there’s evidence of Trump’s GOP makeover

Pawleys Island, South Carolina CNN —

Joy Rendulic was hesitant when her husband first suggested a move to South Carolina. Then she visited a small ice cream shop for sale near the spectacular coast of this barrier island town.

Rendulic cashed in her 401(k) to buy it, and left Erie, Pennsylvania, behind.

“God brought me here,” Rendulic told us during a break at Island Treats ice cream shop. “I thought I was doing what I was supposed to be doing for the rest of my life, and he had a different plan. We think we are in control. But we’re not.”

The big move was in 2016. Nikki Haley was the governor then, and newcomer Rendulic was impressed.

“Yes, she was a very good governor,” Rendulic said.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Reno, Nevada, in December 2023.

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Donald Trump won her vote for president that same year, again in 2020 and will once more when Trump and Haley square off in the South Carolina GOP presidential primary this month.

“I totally believe that God has assigned him to this position,” Rendulic said of Trump. “That is my true belief.”

We ask what happened in 2020.

“That was a mess,” Rendulic said. “That was so illegal. Some improper cheating happening to the voting procedures.”

We mention all the recounts and court cases Trump lost, including cases decided by judges Trump appointed, that upheld now-President Joe Biden’s victory.

“I think so many people hate Trump,” she said. “I just know there was a whole lot of cheating.”

There is no evidence of that, but Rendulic is adamant.

So we ask, if it was God’s plan for Trump to be president, why would God let that happen?