Ex-national security adviser John Bolton said his former Trump administration colleague Nikki Haley is “really running for vice president” as the former South Carolina governor announced her bid for the White House.
“I think Nikki’s really running for vice president, that’s my sense,” Bolton said in an interview on NBC on Monday. “I think she has a problem because she first said she wouldn’t run if President Trump ran.”
Bolton — the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President George W. Bush, a role that Haley filled under former President Trump — criticized her for changing her mind on challenging her former boss.
“Her justification for changing was that a lot of things have changed, which I don’t think is very convincing,” Bolton said. “I think Trump will have a lot of fun with her.”
Bolton is also considering a presidential bid himself.
“I’m still considering; I’m not in yet,” Bolton said. “The more people I talk to, the more convinced I become that Trump can’t possibly get the Republican party nomination.”
While many ex-Trump officials — such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Vice President Mike Pence — are considering presidential runs, Haley is the first major Republican name to jump in the ring with the former president. The likes of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) are also reportedly mulling bids.
Bolton also criticized Pompeo in his interview with NBC.
“I think he has problems with his candidacy,” Bolton said. “During our time together in the administration, he let his ambitions outrun his principles. His desire to become Trump’s best boy, at which he was very successful, I think that would be a real problem for him in November were he the party nominee.”