Former President Donald Trump declined a meeting with Nikki Haley at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to the Thursday edition of the Politico Playbook.
Scoop: Nikki Haley reached out to Donald Trump on Wednesday to request a sit-down at Mar-a-Lago, but he turned her down https://t.co/XLsGg4zuDY
— POLITICO (@politico) February 18, 2021
Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, attempted to schedule the meeting after she sharply broke with the former president, telling Politico’s Tim Alberta last month, in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, “We need to acknowledge he let us down.”
“He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again,” she said.
"Haley told me she cannot recall a time in which she wasn’t aware of being different. She is still animated by the stories of her childhood. How teachers made her play Pocahontas in the Thanksgiving pageant." https://t.co/QEAOQqhR8t
— POLITICO Magazine (@POLITICOMag) February 13, 2021
Later in the Jan. 12 interview, Haley said she was “deeply disturbed” by Trump’s post-election behavior and that he had almost become a different person.
“I think he’s going to find himself further and further isolated,” the former South Carolina governor said. “I think his business is suffering at this point. 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.”
Funnily enough, such words are not a great way to guarantee a meeting with the man they were directed toward.
Although the next presidential election is far from close, Haley is rumored to be a 2024 hopeful, and some are starting to hop on the bandwagon.
It's beginning. Mark my words, #Haley2024 https://t.co/WqaqE3fdL1
— Ryan Thompson (@ryanthmps) February 12, 2021
However, if she’s going to get any support from the pro-Trump bloc within the GOP, Haley recognizes she’ll have to make common ground with the man who, according to a recent Politico 2024 primary poll, leads the pack.
“Fifty-three percent of Republicans said they would vote for Trump if the primary were held today,” Politico reported Tuesday.
Haley came in at just 6 percent, meaning she would need to make major political headway to get through the Republican primaries.
Since the Capitol incursion, Haley has not had an entirely solid position on Trump. At some points, she has said the GOP was wrong to follow him.
At others, she has acknowledged his positive impact, saying the Republican Party shouldn’t go back to the way it was before Trump’s presidency.
“I know how much people love Donald Trump,” she told Politico. “I know it. I feel it. Whether it’s an RNC room or social media or talking to donors, I can tell you that the love they have for him is still very strong. That’s not going to just fall to the wayside.”
You can never have it both ways, and Nikki Haley is learning this in her relationship with Donald Trump.
via westernjournal