Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley “probably” will not be chosen as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate if he wins the Republican nomination, the former president told New Hampshire voters on Friday.
The comments from the 77-year-old GOP presidential primary front-runner came on the same day Haley was overheard telling a Granite State voter that being Trump’s vice president was “off the table.”
“She was fine, but she wasn’t presidential material,” Trump said at a rally in Concord, referring to Haley’s tenure as ambassador to the United Nations during his administration.
“Now when I say that, it probably means she won’t be elected vice president,” he added, leaving little doubt that he won’t choose Haley as his No. 2.
“When you say certain things, you kind of throw them off, right?” Trump continued. “I can’t say, ‘She’s not suited to be vice president,’ and then say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to announce that I’ve elected…’, do you understand?”
Trump said Haley was “not presidential material” and suggested he would not choose her as his running mate. REUTERS
Haley told a New Hampshire voter on Friday that being Trump’s vice president is “off the table.” AFP via Getty Images
The former president also revealed that one of the reasons he nominated Haley to serve in his cabinet in 2016 was because he wanted then-South Carolina Lt. Governor Henry McMaster will lead the Palmetto State.
“Moving [Haley] Somewhere, Henry McMaster becomes governor of South Carolina,” Trump said of his thought process at the time.
“He was with me all the time. “I did him a favor,” Trump said of McMaster’s accession to the governorship in January 2017.
Haley’s rivals in the Republican primary have long speculated that the White House hopeful is aiming to take the spot below Trump on the 2024 GOP ticket. Haley has maintained that she is not in the running for second place, but he has not specifically said he would reject Trump’s offer, arguing that such a proclamation would boost the news cycle “for days.”
Her clearest rejection of the idea to date came Friday in Amherst, where a voter asked her if she would commit to not being Trump’s running mate.
“I have said from the beginning that I do not play for second place, I do not want to be anyone’s vice president. That’s off the table,” Haley responded, according to Politico and the Washington Post.
“I’ve always said that. That’s a game they play and I’m not going to play. “I don’t want to be vice president,” she added.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn