Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, said she will only consider a run for president in 2024 if former President Donald Trump declines to, adding she would support Trump if he did decide to run.
"I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it," Haley told reporters Monday during a visit to South Carolina State University. "That's something that we'll have a conversation about, at some point, if that decision is something that has to be made," The Hill reported.
Haley has been a vocal supporter of her former boss, and gave high praise to Trump's speech earlier this winter at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Haley tweeted shortly after the speech:
"Strong speech by President Trump about the winning policies of his administration and what the party needs to unite behind moving forward. The liberal media wants a GOP civil war. Not gonna happen."
Haley served in the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018.
When asked if she would support Trump if he runs again, Haley responded, "Yes."
She indicated she had a "great working relationship" with Trump.
"I appreciated the way he let me do my job," Haley said, The Hill reported. "I thought we did some fantastically great foreign policy things together, and look, I just want to keep building on what we accomplished and not watch it get torn down."
Haley has been candid at times with Trump, too, suggesting the president let down his backers by not doing more to quell the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. She had then told Politico, she believed Trump was "not going to run for federal office again."
"I think his business is suffering at this point," Haley said. "I think he's lost any sort of political viability he was going to have. I think he's lost his social media, which meant the world to him. I mean, I think he's lost the things that really could have kept him moving."
Trump has not ruled out a 2024 run, a possibility that might be keeping potential GOP presidential candidates waiting in the wings until he makes a final decision.
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