Pompeo says Nikki Haley and Jared Kushner planned to oust Pence as vice president
Ryan King
Video Embed
Mike Pompeo speculated that Nikki Haley positioned herself as a vice-president option for former President Donald Trump during his White House days.
Taking aim at a possible 2024 foe, Pompeo said that Haley, the-then U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, “played” then-chief of staff John Kelly to get an Oval Office meeting with Trump and later flanked him with his son-in-law Jared Kushner to warm Trump up to the prospect of her replacing then-Vice President Mike Pence.
‘I’M STILL TRYING TO KILL YOU’: MIKE POMPEO TOLD KIM JONG UN DURING SECRET 2018 MEETING
“As best Kelly could tell,” Pompeo wrote, according to the Guardian, “they were presenting a possible ‘Haley for vice-president’ option. I can’t confirm this, but [Kelly] was certain he had been played, and he was not happy about it. Clearly, this visit did not reflect a team effort but undermined our work for America.”
Pompeo’s revelation gives credence to reports Trump denied in 2019 that he contemplated dumping Pence. Trump kept Pence on for his reelection bid in 2020 before falling out with him over Pence’s refusal to decertify the election results on Jan. 6. Pence has defended his refusal, insisting that he lacked the authority to do so.
Throughout his book, Pompeo took jabs at Haley, belittling her U.N. ambassador gig as “a job that is far less important than people think” and criticizing her performance, per the report. He also knocked her, ribbing that she “flat-out threw in the towel” and “abandoned” Trump by stepping down from her post.
“She has described her role as going toe-to-toe with tyrants,” Pompeo added. “If so, then why would she quit such an important job at such an important time?”
Pompeo also recalled how former chief of staff Mark Meadows informed him that Trump was mulling giving him a “dual hat” role in which he’d lead both the State Department and the Department of Defense, a notion Pompeo scoffed as “a nutty idea.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Haley, Pompeo, and Pence are all speculated 2024 presidential contenders. Pompeo set the spring as a timeline to disclose whether or not he will throw his hat into the ring, while Pence has insisted he still has “time” to make the decision, and Haley has crowed that she’s never lost an election.
Pompeo’s book, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, is slated for release on Jan. 24.
The Washington Examiner reached out to a Haley representative for comment.