Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley ruled out the possibility of serving as vice president in comments to New Hampshire voters on Friday, amid speculation that former president Donald Trump might tap Haley to balance out his ticket if her own presidential ambitions don’t pan out.
“I’ve said from the very beginning: I don’t play for second. I don’t want to be anybody’s vice president. That is off the table,” Haley told diners at a restaurant in Amherst, New Hampshire, according to a Politico reporter who overheard the comments.
The former U.N. ambassador’s presidential campaign has been dogged in recent weeks by questions about her willingness to serve as vice president in a second Trump administration. Her refusal to immediately shut down the speculation troubled Chris Christie’s allies and prevented them from immediately endorsing her after the former New Jersey governor dropped out earlier this month, National Review previously reported.
Haley has in recent days sought to tamp down the speculation, telling a local ABC affiliate on Tuesday, “I do not want to be vice-president. Period.”
At a campaign event in late December, one day after Haley infamously waffled a question about the roots of the Civil War, she was asked to clarify her stance on serving as Trump’s vice-president. “I could say to you what you want to hear, and you could go check that box and go do whatever, but I’m going to continue to tell you my truth and the truth that I have always told the truth. Even when I was in the administration, President Trump and I worked well together. Why? Because I told him the truth,” the former governor of South Carolina said in a rambling response.
“If you want to talk about vice-president, I will tell you this now. I’ve said it before: I don’t play for second. I’ve never played for second. I’m not going to start now, but if you want to know who my short VP list is, I’ll let you know when I have it.”
On Wednesday, CNN joined ABC pulling the plug on its debate between Haley and Florida governor Ron DeSantis after the former insisted she would not participate unless Donald Trump were present.
“We will continue to pursue other opportunities as the campaign season progresses through 2024,” a CNN spokesperson told the Washington Post at the time. The event was originally scheduled for this coming Sunday.
“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide,” Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, wrote on X on Tuesday morning. “The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
Meanwhile, DeSantis relished the opportunity to underscore his continued willingness to engage by taking a shot at Haley, calling her “afraid to participate in the remaining debates.” “I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week,” DeSantis wrote on X.
On Tuesday, ABC announced the cancellation of their Thursday night debate between the Republican presidential contenders following Haley’s demand.
“Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race,” a spokesperson for ABC News told Semafor in a statement. “As a result, while our robust election coverage will continue, ABC News and WMUR-TV will not be moving forward with Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire.”
Haley bowed out of the primary debates in New Hampshire the morning after she finished third place in the Iowa caucuses. She announced the news on social media, saying the next time she debates she will be on stage beside either Biden or Trump, who has skipped all five Republican primary debates.
Without mentioning DeSantis in her speech Monday night, Haley cast the current state of the Republican primaries as a “two-person race” seemingly between herself and Trump. DeSantis came in second place.