Nikki Haley claims Democrats want Trump's impeachment as part of a 'political game' to win more Senate seats
Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who slammed the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump in the past saying it is a distraction from the real issues, spoke again on the issue on Wednesday, December 4.
In a tweet, the 47-year-old former diplomat said the Democrats were pushing for impeaching their Republican rival mainly to flip the seat share in the Senate. Her tweet came as the impeachment hearings took place before the House Judiciary Committee.
Haley said she did not believe that the Democrats were pursuing Trump’s impeachment to defeat him but rather playing a “political game” to "win senate seats of those senators in vulnerable elections". She called it “one of the biggest political campaigns”. The Senate is currently dominated by the Republicans.
'If Trump is removed, GOP will go for Haley, not Pence'
Days ahead of Haley’s critical tweet came, Kentucky’s Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth said while speaking to CNN that removing Trump from office may end up as “bad politics” as he predicted that the Republicans would nominate Haley and not Vice President Mike Pence for the top post in the 2020 battle. He was elaborating his remark made in November that even though he strongly believed that Trump should be impeached and removed, he also thought that it was not going to be a good thing to get rid of the Republican strongman.
Yarmuth then made a bold forecast that if Trump is removed, Haley will be the next option for the GOP and the former South Carolina governor’s nomination would make it more challenging for the Democrats to regain the presidency.
Haley though has denied time and again that she is eyeing to be the president’s running mate in 2020. Other reports though suggest that Haley is already a frontrunner for the Oval Office in 2024.
Haley has kept a good relationship with Trump
Haley’s position has been interesting throughout the Trump presidency. During her stint as the ambassador to the UN, she had moments when she found herself at odds with the White House over its foreign policies, particularly on Russia. But she never had any personal friction with the president and has stood by him when he has found himself embattled with impeachment. She even said last month that two of Trump’s former top aides approached her to undermine him but she refused to oblige, saying such tendencies were “dangerous” and “offensive”. The president also said following her resignation in October last year that she is special to him.