Former President Donald Trump has not ruled out the possibility of taking former South Carolina Governor and fellow Republican rival Nikki Haley as his running mate for the upcoming presidential election. This is according to a video posted on X by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
When quizzed in the video, the Republican frontrunner responded to a question regarding comments made by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, on Newsmax earlier in the week as to whether he would consider Ms. Haley as his running mate.
“Never say never,” she responded.
President Trump went on to say that it’s unlikely this would happen; however, he fell short of ruling out the possibility.
“I’ve always gotten along with Nikki,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “We have some things in common and some things we don’t have in common, and some of those things are very important.”
Ms. Haley’s campaign for president started slowly but recently gained steam, as she is advancing steadily in several recent polls. She is now running neck and neck with DeSantis for second place.
While it has been rumored that Ms. Haley could accept a potential invitation to become vice president, it remains speculation.
Ms. Haley has served in the Trump administration as ambassador to the United Nations and maintained a healthy working relationship with then-President Trump, but has found herself at odds with some of his approaches in recent times.
In 2021, she stated publicly that she wouldn’t run against the former president if he decided to run for the White House again in 2024, but she later reversed her decision.
According to former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, a female running mate for Mr. Trump seems likely, but no specific mention was made of Haley, as reported by Newsweek.
Nonetheless, no indication has come from Mr. Trump confirming any of the names, nor who he would pick as running mate once he secures his likely nomination.
On his campaign tour, Mr. DeSantis dismissed any possibility of accepting a running-mate deal with his fellow Republican rivals.
“I can tell you under any circumstance, I will not accept that because that’s not why I’m running,“ DeSantis said. ”I’m running for the nomination and to be president. And I’m totally fine, you know, I'd rather be governor than vice president, no question. I can do more for my state and this country without question.”
Mr. DeSantis asserted that he is the only one who can beat President Trump. However, his campaign has shown recent signs of slowing down, leaving an even wider gap between him and President Trump. Despite this, Mr. DeSantis remains optimistic: “Haley cannot get enough support from core Republicans and conservatives. She’s getting support from people who either aren’t Republicans or are on kind of the 10, 15 percent, which is fine. I mean, you need those people for it to win the general, but you have to be able to appeal to conservatives and core Republicans. And I’m the only one that can do that.”
