‘I would go to great lengths to make sure’ Ms. Haley is not tapped as VP, the former president’s son said.
Donald Trump Jr. has expressed strong opposition to the prospect of Nikki Haley being tapped as his father’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election, pledging to go to “great lengths” to prevent it.
In a recent interview, Mr. Trump Jr. declared that he “wouldn’t have her” as the vice presidential candidate alongside his father, former President Donald Trump, should he secure the GOP nomination next year.
“I would go to great lengths to make sure that doesn’t happen,” the former president’s son told Newsmax on Dec. 25.
The statement came after the outlet played video footage of Ms. Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a GOP presidential candidate, making critical comments about President Trump during an interview with ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis earlier in the month.
“I don’t think he should be president,” said Ms. Haley, who expressed concerns about the state of the country and the world, saying, “Donald Trump brings us chaos.”
In response to the footage, Mr. Trump Jr. dismissed Ms. Haley’s candidacy, accusing her of being a “puppet” of the Washington establishment.
“Nikki Haley wants never-ending wars. She’s a puppet of the establishment in Washington, D.C. She’s the new favorite candidate of the billionaire class because they want control—no different than academia and Harvard and using, you know, their billions to exercise influence,” Mr. Trump Jr. said.
Taking note of Ms. Haley’s rise in the polls, Mr. Trump Jr. predicted that, if chosen as vice president, Ms. Haley would attempt to “destroy Donald Trump from within.”
Mr. Trump Jr. said that “she is now the preferred candidate.”
“The second she ever got that, you know, anointment, it would be a disaster of epic proportions. So I would hope that that never is on the table, and I don’t think it is,” he added.
An opinion poll released in December by American Research Group shows Ms. Haley rose to within 4 points of President Trump in New Hampshire. President Trump called the poll “fake.”
