Trump to name Nikki Haley as running mate, CNN analyst predicts

He "guaranteed" that Trump with throw Pence "under the bus" due to his handling of the coronavirus, saying that the task is an unwinnable battle for the vice president.

MARCH 3, 2020 12:38

U.S. President Donald Trump talks with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office of the White House after it was announced the president had accepted the Haley's resignation in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2018 (photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST) — U.S. President Donald Trump talks with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office of the White House after it was announced the president had accepted the Haley's resignation in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2018

(photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)

United States President Donald Trump is reportedly going to drop Vice President Mike Pence in order to run with former American ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, according to a prediction by CNN political analyst Paul Begala.

He "guaranteed" that Trump with throw Pence "under the bus" due to his handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying that the task is an unwinnable battle for the vice president.

“This is not a prediction – it’s a certainty. On Thursday, July 16 – that’s the date the Democrat[ic nominee] gives his or her acceptance address – on that day, to interrupt that narrative, Donald Trump will call a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. He’s going to dump Mike Pence and put Nikki Haley on the ticket to try to get those suburban moms," Begala said during a panel discussion at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference, according to The Hill.

"You watch. Guaranteed," said Begala. “Trump put Pence in charge of coronavirus to throw him under the bus."

However, Haley has heavily refuted speculations that she will replace Pence in November.

"There is no truth whatsoever that I would ever in any way look to get that position," Haley told Fox and Friends. "I think Mike is great for that job and I think that he's the right partner for the president."

Haley focused her two-year tenure at the UN combating hostility toward the Jewish state and was praised by its leaders for her “strength” and “leadership” in the face of widespread anti-Israel bias there.

Haley has acknowledged “disagreements” with the president in the past on several policy matters, writing a response to a New York Times op-ed on an internal “resistance” against Trump’s worst behaviors that irked the president.

In that article, Haley said she expresses her disapproval with Trump directly to him.

Seen as a rising political star with ambitions beyond her ambassadorship, Haley was quick to dismiss rumors that her resignation before the November midterm elections indicated her designs on the 2020 presidential race.

“I can tell you [that] what I’ll be doing is campaigning for this one,” she said. “I won’t be running in 2020.”

Michael Wilner contributed to this report.