The rivalry between Haley and Pence intensifies as the GOP weighs on Trump's future

When last month the Republicans gathered at St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colorado, gathered for a day of reflection on donors, several participants said that there was a tension palpable in the room as the two heads of the rally prepared to speak: Vice President Mike Pence and the former President of the United Nations. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

The assembled group of governors, donors and active members were well aware that both had great ambitions; for some it seemed that Pence and Haley, who were speaking the following days, were trying to get their attention. Some in the audience found themselves analyzing and comparing both speeches and had the impression of receiving a taste of a 2024 Republican primary. Others recalled some In particular, neither Pence nor Haley recognized each other in their presentations, even though they congratulated the other participants on their retirement.

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At a time when Republicans are starting to wonder what their party will look like after Donald Trump's departure, a rivalry has emerged between the two politicians with distinctly different profiles – and signs of tension are surfacing.

Pence and Haley do not shoot openly: publicly, both sides claim that there is nothing but mutual respect. Interviews with nearly two dozen Republicans revealed that opposing sides closely followed the movements of their opponents and remained deeply suspicious of each other.

The Pence team recently asked seasoned Republicans to keep abreast of Haley's outreach to donors. And as Haley embarks on a nationwide fundraising tour and promotes a new foreign political group, Pence's top advisers blame her for the persistent rumors that she will replace him in place of Trump in 2020. Tensions erupted after Haley chose not to publicly repudiate a Wall Street Journal. column in June urging Trump to put her on the ticket.

Earlier this month, Haley criticized Trump after criticizing Baltimore and his black deputy, Elijah Cummings. "It's so useless," she says. wrote on Twitter, adding the emoji eyeroll. Kellyanne Conway, former poll advisor at the White House, then retaliated: "It's so useless. Trump-PENCE2020, "writes Conway about Haley's tweet.

The battle of the shadow shows no signs of slowing down. Pence spent the year paddling in oscillating states that will determine the outcome of the 2020 election. But Monday, he will travel to South Carolina at Haley to deliver his speech at an annual barbecue hosted by the representative of the United States. GOP people, Jeff Duncan, who has already attracted White House aspirants. South Carolina is a gift for Trump in the 2020 general election, but it will be essential for anyone seeking a future nomination for the Republican presidency.

"They have been absolutely friends and have worked well together over the years, but you have to suspend disbelief to assert that their relationship will no longer be considered in the context of the presidential election that will follow," he said. Rob Godfrey. who served as senior aide to Haley during her six years as governor of South Carolina.

On Wednesday morning, POLITICO asked a spokeswoman for Haley about her political activities, her relationship with Pence and her interest in a future presidential bid. In the afternoon, before her office provided an official response to the investigation, Haley approached Twitter for to declare that she had "enough false rumors".

"Vice President Pence has been a dear friend of mine for years. He has been a loyal and trustworthy Vice President to the President, "she added. "He has my full support."

The next morning, Haley's spokesperson, Chaney Denton, provided an explanation for the tweet.

"This silly discussion about the vice-presidency has been going on for a long time. Ambassador Haley preferred to avoid it completely, "said Denton. "It's only when the topic was raised repeatedly, including this week, that she decided that it made sense to address it."

While the two could not be more different – Pence is a 60-year-old social-conservative, she is a 47-year-old Indian immigrant girl – their relatives say that they have a long-standing relationship warm. Haley went to Indiana in 2012 to help Pence in his governorship campaign, and then returned three years later to run a GOP State dinner while he was there. was dragged into a race for reelection.

The two also shared an advisor with Nick Ayers, a prominent consultant who served for four years as Executive Director of the Republican Governors Association. And their offices gave them access to the same group of powerful donors who finance the races for the governor.

The recent divisions were fueled in part by rumors that Haley could replace Pence on the ticket and that it took so long to solve them. Some of Pence's top aides said they thought Haley or an ally was behind the Wall Street Journal op-ed, which a representative of the former ambassador denied.

The White House is opposed to the idea that Pence be launched. Trump told Pence privately that he was irritated by the Wall Street Journal article. Last weekend, the president told reporters that he was "very happy" with the vice president and "would not think of doing it".

Erickson, a prominent conservative commentator who is close to Pence and Haley, said the former ambassador was wise to reverse the vice-president's speculation. The rumors had so intensified that two governors had recently contacted him to ask him if Pence was about to be canned, Erickson said.

"I think there are people in Trump-World who are questioning his loyalty now," he said. "And so, to make sure that they see her loyal is a good thing and defend the vice president about the rumors flowing behind him the scenes are not a bad thing to do for her.

Pence's inner circle is convinced that Haley is setting the stage for a future presidential bid. Since leaving the administration at the end of last year, she has traveled the country collecting funds for non-voting candidates and conservative groups. Haley also formed "Stand for America", a political rights organization.

The group allows Haley to grow big donors and establish the kind of national fundraising network she would need to run a national campaign. Among those working for the group is Mark Harris, an agent who worked on a super PAC Marco Marco Rubio during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Some Haley skeptics said they were watching to see if she was using this organization to help candidates run next year or if she was saving her resources for later. David McIntosh, chairman of the Anti-Tax Growth Club, said future candidates for the Republican party presidency would be judged on the basis of what they were doing to help the party by 2020.

"I know where Pence talks about it, that's exactly what he does. I'm hoping – and Haley is a smart politician so I think she'll understand – that's her essential task now too, "said McIntosh, Pence's longtime ally.

Denton, Haley's spokeswoman, said the former ambassador was "determined to help re-elect the Trump-Pence bill, and to help Republicans maintain the majority in the Senate and win back the House."

"All his political efforts this year are on the 2020 elections," added Denton.

In a statement, Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, said: "The Vice President has tremendous respect for Nikki Haley and she was an excellent ambassador for the Trump-Pence program during her year in the US. UN." (Haley has been a UN ambassador for just under two years.)

The role of Ayers, who remains close to both, further complicates the dynamics between Pence and Haley. The older Republicans want to know if the 37-year-old police officer, who left his position as Pence's chief of staff at the end of last year to return to his native Georgia, opts for one. or the other.

Former colleagues in Ayers, who have close ties to the donor class, say he did not choose a camp. He speaks regularly with Pence and Haley and has been seen with the two retired Aspen, organized by the RGA. A few weeks later, Ayers and Pence appeared together on stage in front of a national group of young conservative leaders.

The skirmish offers a potential glimpse of what awaits the GOP after 2020 – a fight for the party's leadership. Pence has been the most staunch ally of the president since joining the position in 2016, even when Trump's policies and personal conduct deviated from the principles that Pence had known for a long time. Haley, who endorsed Marco Rubio in 2016 and criticized Trump during the campaign, showed a willingness to part with the administration. She urged the GOP to be more inclusive, potentially representing a new direction for the party.

Haley's next memoir, which will be published in November, may give some idea of ​​his approach. Although the book is not supposed to take direct shots at the White House, her promotional material describes her as "a leader who seeks to reunite Americans in times of division."