Responding to theories surrounding Nikki Haley’s resignation

By: Chelsea Perry

 

Tuesday morning, Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, abruptly announced her departure from the position. She will remain in her post until the end of this year. Trump has voiced his intention to begin searching for a replacement within the next few weeks.

The President broke the news of Haley’s resignation from the Oval Office yesterday morning, sitting alongside the U.S. Ambassador.

“She’s done a fantastic job and we’ve done a fantastic job together. We’ve solved a lot of problems and we’re in the process of solving a lot of problems,” Trump said.

The Washington Post obtained a copy of Haley’s resignation letter following the presser.

While Trump asserted that Haley expressed a desire to take time off from the public sector six months ago, speculation swirled as to alternative motives behind her resignation.

Here’s what we know so far.

 

MYTH: Ivanka Trump will be succeeding Nikki Haley as U.S. Ambassador.

 

Yesterday morning, the President spoke to the media on the White House lawn regarding possible successors for Haley. Trump claimed that no one “in the world” was more qualified for the position than his own daughter, though he acknowledged that her selection would result in accusations of nepotism.

“It has nothing to do with nepotism but people who know know that Ivanka would be dynamite. I’d be accused of nepotism even if there’s no one more competent in the world.”

Ivanka shut down any speculation in a tweet yesterday.

MYTH: Haley will be running for presidency in 2020.

 

Haley was quick to shoot down questions regarding her prospective presidential candidacy in the 2020 election.

In an unprompted response to the media, she made it clear that she will “not be running for 2020” and will be “supporting the president in the next election.”

However, this statement does not rule her out as a potential candidate in 2024, six years following her removal from office.

 

FACT: Haley has publicly made no correlation between her resignation and Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

 

On October 7th, in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Haley said that as a general rule, second-guessing sexual harassment accusers should be avoided. She went on to say that “every accuser always deserves the right to be heard, but at the same time, the accused deserves the right to be heard.”

Haley has not responded to the speculation, nor have any White House officials indicated that her resignation has any correlation with Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Photo By: Post and Courier