Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene scorned the prospect Tuesday of former President Donald Trump tapping Nikki Haley to be his running mate if he secures the Republican presidential nomination.
Greene (R-Ga.), an outspoken fan of the 77-year-old Trump who has mused about joining his ticket herself, blasted the former South Carolina governor and onetime ambassador to the United Nations as a “neocon.”
“MAGA would revolt if Nikki Haley were to even be given an internship in Trump’s next administration,” Greene predicted on X.
“She represents the neocon establishment America last wing of the Republican Party that we are absolutely done with.”
Haley’s campaign has touted significant momentum in the polls over recent months, gaining on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis both in Iowa and nationally, while surging into second place in New Hampshire, per the RealClearPolitics aggregate.
The Georgia congresswoman predicted that the MAGA base wouldn’t be happy if Nikki Haley ran with Trump. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesWhile rumors have swirled about Haley potentially serving in a second Trump administration, the 51-year-old has refused to publicly countenance the prospect — repeatedly insisting on the campaign trail: “I don’t play for second.”
Greene further alleged on X that Haley “lied and said she would not run against Trump.”
Back in 2021, Haley told reporters, “I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it.”
Donald Trump has had a toehold on the GOP primary since launching his campaign in November of last year. AFP via Getty ImagesTrump claimed that Haley made a call to him before she announced her candidacy this past February.
Greene, who has already endorsed Trump in the 2024 primary, publicly raised the possibility of being Trump’s running mate in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution back in August.
“I have a lot of things to think about,” she said at the time. “Am I going to be a part of President Trump’s Cabinet if he wins? Is it possible that I’ll be VP?”
Nikki Haley served as US Ambassador to the UN from 2017 to 2018. Getty ImagesSome prominent Republicans have actively floated Haley as a potential VP pick for Trump.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) recently suggested she would boost him in a general election.
“If I was picking for purely political decisions — what it looks like today is the anti-Trump vote is going to Nikki Haley,” McCarthy said at the New York Times DealBook summit in late November.
The former South Carolina governor has argued that she will be more formidable in a general election that Donald Trump. AFP via Getty ImagesHaley’s team has touted a recent Wall Street Journal poll in which she notched a 17-point lead over President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 election, while Trump could only manage a four-point margin.
The Haley campaign declined to comment on Greene’s swipe.
Trump remains the runaway 2024 GOP frontrunner with a 48 percentage-point national lead in the most recent RealClearPolitics aggregate.
The 45th president has been guarded about his vice presidential pick, though he has publicly soured on his old one — Mike Pence — over his refusal to throw out the election result on Jan. 6, 2021.
