While former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley claims she is not going to be anyone's vice president, saying that was "off the table," former President Donald Trump came out and agreed with his chief New Hampshire GOP primary challenger Friday night.
"She is OK, but she is not presidential timber, and when I say that, that probably means she is not going to be chosen as the vice president," Trump told his Concord, New Hampshire, rally Friday night.
"When you say certain things, it sort of takes them out of play, right? I can't say, 'She's not of the timber to be the vice president' and then say, 'Ladies and gentleman, I'm proud to announce that I've picked ..."
Trump has picked up his attacks on Haley of late, after she claimed after her third-place finish in Iowa that it was now a "two-person race."
"She's not tough enough, she's not smart enough, and she wasn't respected enough," Trump said Friday night. "She cannot do this job."
Trump has long rejected talk that any of the 2024 GOP primary challengers would be candidates to be his vice president.
Just a few weeks ago during an Iowa rally on Newsmax2 streaming platform, Trump warned GOP voters that Haley and Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis would ultimately "turn on" primary voters as they turned on him, having broken from past tidy relations to run against him for president in 2024.
While just Trump, Haley, and DeSantis remain in the GOP primary race, Trump has received endorsements from a number of former challengers, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and most recently Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
Those names have become intriguing candidates for a Trump ticket if he wins the GOP nomination, but again Trump had already ruled out 2024 GOP debate candidates as a VP pick.
But Scott was a prominent guest at Friday night's rally on Concord, officially delivering his endorsement of Trump.
"By the way, I'm leading her by over 50 points, so I don't what the hell kind of job she does — in South Carolina," Trump said of Haley, before bringing Scott on the stage to delivering the endorsement that is potentially stinging to Haley in her home state.
Scott joined Trump on Trump Force One from West Palm Beach, Florida, on the campaign trail Friday night.
"I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of these United States: President Donald Trump!" an enthusiastic Scott said at the end of his 3-plus-minute remarks on stage.
Haley worked for the Trump administration as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Trump frequently jokes he put her in that position to elevate then-Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster to the governor's role in the key battleground state of South Carolina.
South Carolina is next on the GOP primary schedule and Scott's endorsement could further buoy a Trump lead in polling over Haley and DeSantis — the latter of which moved his Iowa campaign staff to South Carolina, allowing the Never Back Down PAC carry his hopes in New Hampshire.
"When I was in Iowa last week, I'd made a lot of different stops and speeches and everything — every time … I said, 'Just, you know, don't believe the polls' because it had us up 40 or 50 points or so," Trump said Friday night in Concord. "I said, 'You got to get out because margins are important, not because of the people we're running against Nikki.'
"I don't even talk about DeSanctus — whatever happened to him?
"Well — no –– a poll just came out: DeSanctus is at 4 [percent]. What happened to this guy? One of the great self-destructions I think I've ever witnessed."