Trump eyeing Haley to replace Pence as vice president, says former Israeli ambassador to UN

“There are rumors that former ambassador Nikki Haley may take on the role of Vice President Pence,” said Danny Danon.

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

Danny Danon, former Israeli ambassador to the UN, said that Nikki Haley could replace Mike Pence as Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate in the upcoming U.S. elections.

Danon made the comments Monday morning in an interview with Yuval Karni of the Knesset Channel.

“There are rumors that former ambassador Nikki Haley may take on the role of Vice President Pence,” Danon said. “I know it’s being considered, but I don’t know if it’s something that will happen,” he said.

Haley served as U.S. ambassador to the UN from 2017 to 2018, where she was known for her strong support of Israel.

Danon said that Pence is also a good friend of Israel. He said that although Trump appreciates Pence’s good work, “I definitely think that this issue will be considered.”

“So it will be interesting,” Danon said, “but it is impossible to say what the outcome will be.”

Rumors that Trump may select Haley as his running mate have been circulating since the 2016 presidential election.

In March of this year, Democratic strategist Paul Begala predicted that Haley would replace Pence. “This is not a prediction. This is a certainty,” he said.

However, Haley has repeatedly voiced her support for Pence and denied that she is seeking the vice presidency.

For a sitting president to successfully switch running mates at this point in the election would be very unusual, but not unheard of.

It hasn’t happened since Franklin D. Roosevelt became the last elected president to successfully replace his elected vice president in 1944.

Perhaps even more significant, Trump-Haley and Biden-Harris tickets would make this the first time in American history where the vice-presidential candidates of both major parties were women of Indian descent.

Regardless of what happens in 2020, some are already looking to Haley as a potential presidential candidate in 2024.

“For Haley and for many others, when Trump is gone, whenever that is, we’ll find out whether this thing has legs or whether it was a flash in the historical pan,” said Republican strategist Chip Felkel.