- Steve Bannon in a recent interview said Nikki Haley as a potential Trump VP running mate would be a nonstarter.
- "If Nikki Haley is in this administration in any capacity, it will fail," he told podcaster Jack Posobiec.
Ex-White House chief strategist Steven Bannon in a recent interview threw cold water on Nikki Haley's potential selection as a vice presidential running mate for former President Donald Trump, arguing that she would cause a second Trump administration to "fail."
Haley, a former UN ambassador in the Trump administration, is still very much in the race for the White House, where she's become the leading GOP alternative to Trump with less than two weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses and less than a month before the New Hampshire primary.
But Bannon, a highly polarizing figure throughout his short tenure in the Trump White House, is coming out swinging against Haley, who despite her campaign momentum still remains far behind the former president in national and statewide polling.
"One of the fights we're going to have, a big fight, it will take place in the spring, will be — they're going to try to force Nikki on the ticket," Bannon said during a Monday podcast episode of the "Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec" on Real America's Voice.
"They'll say Trump needs a woman: Nikki on the ticket. She balances things," he continued. "And she can bring together that 15 percent of Never Trumpers in the Republican Party. We're going to have to have that fight."
Trump has not yet secured the GOP presidential nomination, but due to his strength in not only the early-voting states but also in later contests — including critical races on Super Tuesday — many conservatives are already mapping out the former president's next moves in choosing a running mate.
Bannon, who retains a major following among Trump's MAGA base voters, told Posobiec that Haley would seek to style herself in the mold of former Vice President Dick Cheney should the pair become a ticket and win the White House in 2024.
"If Nikki Haley is in this administration in any capacity, it will fail," he said. "She's a viper, and once she gets in there, she'll try to run it as prime minister."
"She'll try to be Dick Cheney," Bannon added, referencing the former vice president's partnership with his boss, former President George W. Bush.
When Bush tapped Cheney to be his running mate in 2000, it was seen as a move that elevated an experienced Washington hand, as Bush's elected political experience was limited to his gubernatorial tenure in Texas. After the pair entered the White House in 2001, Cheney would be seen by many observers as one of the most powerful vice presidents in US history.
Last month, Bannon predicted to former White House press secretary Sean Spicer that Trump would likely select a female running mate, mentioning names like Govs. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
But in Bannon's eyes, Haley didn't belong on that list.
"I think it's very important for America First to make sure it ain't Nikki Haley," he said at the time.
In FiveThirtyEight's weighted national polling average of the GOP presidential contest, Trump is averaging 62.1% support, with Haley at roughly 11% support.