Nikki Haley says she is not aiming for VP: I don’t run for second and we have a country to save

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says anyone who thinks she is secretly running for the vice presidential slot is dead wrong.

Mrs. Haley made the comments to Politico while touring the Iowa State Fair in a T-shirt that said “Underestimate me — that’ll be fun.”

“I think everybody that says, ‘She’s doing this to be vice president,’ needs to understand I don’t run for second,” Mrs. Haley said. “That’s something that I hear all the time, and I’ll tell you that, look, we have a country to save, and I don’t trust anybody else to do it.”

Mrs. Haley is competing in a male-dominated GOP primary field led by former President Donald Trump, the clear front-runner.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tends to attract double-digit support in distant second place while Mrs. Haley tends to draw single-digit support in a pack that includes businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Mrs. Haley is keeping up a busy campaign schedule and making the rounds in the media. The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is talking tough on China, warning that Mr. Trump might not win a general election and trying to stay out of the mud-slinging.

“I’m an accountant. I’m a military spouse. I’m a mom,” she said in the fair interview. “I understand that we’ve got debt issues, we’ve got crime issues, we’ve got border issues, we’ve gotten education issues, and we’ve got China literally beating us every day. I don’t have time for the theatrics.”

Mrs. Haley said she does not “play the gender card,” but rather simply says: “Strong girls become strong women, strong women become strong leaders.”

A senior Democratic strategist told Politico that while the Biden campaign isn’t worried about some GOP contenders, Mrs. Haley could be “trouble.”

Ammar Moussa, the national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, said that is ridiculous.

“I have never laughed at something more dumb,” he tweeted with a screenshot of the warning about Mrs. Haley. “This person has no idea what they’re talking about.”