Nikki Haley Responds To Rumors That She’s Gunning For Mike Pence’s Job: ‘No Truth Whatsoever’
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley responded to rumored headlines on Tuesday and bluntly denied that her recent book might have been a hint at her ambition to replace Vice President Mike Pence on the 2020 ticket with President Donald Trump.
According to the Washington Examiner, Haley dispelled the rumors later on Tuesday during an appearance on Fox News, insisting that there’s “no truth whatsoever” to a claim made earlier in the day that she’s eyeing up the White House and wasn’t shy about throwing her full support behind the Trump/Pence 2020 ticket.
“I will tell you, it’s amazing how this vice president stuff still keeps coming up,” she said. “The vice president and the president are a great ticket together. They’re solid. Solid enough that they’re going to win together.”
“I think Mike is great for the job and I think that he’s the right partner for the president,” Haley added.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, the rumors first swirled after the late Senator John McCain’s 2008 campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, discussed the possibility that Haley’s recent book, With All Due Respect: Defending America With Grit And Grace, was akin to an unofficial audition for the 2020 vice presidential gig.
Schmidt expressed a high level of confidence that in his opinion, Haley has her eyes on the prize.
“It’s about currying favor. She wants to be vice president. She wants to be vice president on the Republican ticket in 2020. I think there’s an overwhelming chance that Trump will dump Pence to put Nikki Haley on the ticket,” Schmidt predicted.
"I think there's an overwhelming chance that Trump will dump Pence to put Nikki Haley on the ticket." —@SteveSchmidtSES pic.twitter.com/G94iXERCmT
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) November 12, 2019
Schmidt also pointed out the one undeniable advantage of Trump adding a female candidate to the ticket — he’s struggling with female suburban voters. As The Inquisitr reported, a Grinnell College poll from October showed a significant drop in women voters from suburbia, which was a group he did extremely well with for the 2016 presidential ticket.
For one example, Trump won over suburban female voters who do not hold a college degree with 61 percent of support in 2016. In the Grinnell College poll, his favorability rating in that particular demographic now sits at 46 percent.
The poll also revealed that female voters are expected to turn out in force at the ballot box come November 2020, as 88 percent of them committed to voting, which is a number that is roughly 10 percent higher than it was 2016.
Schmidt’s prediction that Haley will end up in Pence’s position came not long after MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough floated a similar theory. He suggested that she penned her recent book specifically for Trump and not for the masses.
