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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who continues to run in second place behind Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, left no doubt during a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Friday over the question of whether he would serve as the former president’s running mate.
In a word, no.
During the campaign event, DeSantis also said that former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador under Trump, Nikki Haley, has not been as clear with her response.
“She will not answer directly — and she owes you an answer to this — will she accept a vice presidential nomination from Donald Trump? Yes or no?” DeSantis said during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. “And I can tell you, under any circumstance, I will not accept that because that’s not why I’m running. I’m running for the nomination and to be president. … I’d rather be governor than vice president, no question.”
At another point, DeSantis said he’s the only one who can beat out Trump for the nomination.
“I’m the only one that can beat (Trump) — there’s a reason they spend money against me. He has not spent any money against her. She has not spent any money against him,” he said.
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WATCH:
JUST NOW: DeSantis says voters are “owed an answer” on whether Nikki Haley would accept a vice presidential nomination from Donald Trump: “Yes or no?”
“I’m the only one that can beat (Trump) — there’s a reason they spend money against me. He has not spent any money against her.… pic.twitter.com/7dI6kO9rcg
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) December 15, 2023
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, which sought a response, the Haley campaign said: “Phony Ron DeSantis has spent ten times more money attacking Nikki Haley than Donald Trump. He’ll say anything to try to salvage his sinking ship of a campaign. Nikki has been very clear from day one, she doesn’t play for second. Ron is trying to play for fourth in New Hampshire.”
Earlier this month, daughter-in-law Lara Trump dropped Haley’s name as a potential running mate for her father-in-law during an interview with Newsmax TV.
Lara told host Eric Bolling that former President Donald Trump’s supporters should not rule out him picking Haley to be vice president.
“I think Nikki Haley has to be a little careful in South Carolina. That’s her home state. Probably Donald Trump is going to win in South Carolina, and Nikki Haley’s gonna come in second,” Bolling told Lara Trump at one point during the interview.
When she was asked about a potential Trump-Vivek Ramaswamy ticket in 2024, Lara laughed and said, “There’s a lot of talk about a lot of people. There’s Trump-Tucker Carlson talk, there’s obviously Trump-Vivek talk, there’s– yeah. I thought you were gonna say Trump-Chris Christie talk, which you’d have a better chance of Joe Biden running with Donald Trump than Chris Christie at this point.”
When Bolling asked, “Would he ever pick Nikki Haley?” Lara Trump replied, “Crazier things have happened. I don’t know. I would never say never with Donald J. Trump. Never say never.”
Later, 2022 Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who herself is rumored to be on the shortlist for Trump’s VP, responded after Bolling asked: “Is there a job for, say, Nikki Haley in a Trump administration?”
Lake said: “I would guess the sooner she gets out, the more likely that would happen, but I don’t know about that.”
While Lake has also been mentioned as a potential running mate of Trump’s, she has actually filed to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona that is currently held by Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who has yet to announce whether she’ll seek another term.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who is seen as a supporter of Trump’s America-centric policy agenda, has since announced he would support Lake ahead of what is expected to be a very closely watched race in a new swing state.
“Kari Lake is the fighter Arizona needs to secure the border, unleash American Energy Independence, and lower the cost of living. Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for Arizona and Kari Lake will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first. Let’s send Kari to the Senate and take back the majority,” Cotton told Fox News Digital in a statement.
