Trump Asking His Allies About Possibly Picking Nikki Haley As VP: Report

 Former President Donald Trump has reportedly floated the possibility of picking former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as his vice presidential running mate should he win the Republican Party presidential primary.

CBS News reported that multiple sources have informed the network that Trump has asked some of his allies about their perspective on Haley as a potential running mate. POLITICO also reported that Trump was considering Haley for the vice president slot. “What do you think of Nikki?” Trump has asked allies, according to the outlet.

Trump’s most vocal supporters, including his son Donald Trump Jr., have strongly pushed back on the idea, while other political allies, like former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), have advised Trump to do it.

“If I was a political person, and I was going to advise somebody, you’re going to pick the vice president that’s about addition, not subtraction. So you’re not going to pick somebody that already equates to you,” McCarthy said. “Now if I was picking for purely political decisions, what it looks like today is the anti-Trump vote is going to Nikki Haley.”

Along with alleged discussions about Haley, POLITICO reports that the former president “has also pressed allies for their impressions of other prominent Republicans in recent months including former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fl.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Arizona Republican Kari Lake.”

Haley, who is polling at third place nationally in the GOP primary, was repeatedly asked in an interview this week if she would “rule out” being a vice presidential pick, a question posed as she has come under criticism from fellow Republican presidential candidates over the issue in recent days. In response, she would only say that she does not “play for second,” but would not categorically rule out the possibility as two other Republican candidates have.

Talk about Haley being Trump’s VP pick started earlier this month when the former president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, suggested that Trump was open to the idea when asked about it on Newsmax. When asked by radio host Howie Carr on Friday, Trump said while it was “unlikely,” he did find the idea “interesting,” but said he wasn’t “even thinking about that.” He added, “I’ve always gotten along with Nikki.”

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged in a book that Haley “plotted” with some who were close to then-President Trump “to try to become Trump’s vice president” and replace then-Vice President Mike Pence, CNN reported. Haley denied that the accusation was true. Haley said in April 2021 that she would not run against Trump in 2024, but later decided to call Trump first about wanting to run. “I talked to her for a little while,” said Trump. “I said look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run.”

 

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took aim at Haley on Sunday for saying that she believes that Trump is fit for office and suggested that she might be angling for the vice presidency. “When she hasn’t ruled out being his vice president, I don’t think you could take her as a serious contender against him,” Christie said. “Ron DeSantis and I have both ruled out accepting the vice presidency from Donald Trump. Nikki Haley has not.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said last week that he would not under any circumstance accept a vice presidential nomination and suggested that Haley was working to help Trump.

“People that are for Trump, I’m their next choice. If everyone else got out but me and Trump, all these other candidates, I would get that support because they’d see that I’m the only one that can beat him. There’s a reason why they spend money against me, Haley and Trump spend money against me,” he said, citing data showing that significantly more money has been spent attacking him than all the other candidates. “He has not spent any money against her. And she has not spent any money against him. She will not answer directly, and she owes you an answer to this, will she accept a vice presidential nomination from Donald Trump? Yes or no?”