Former US president Donald Trump has thrown chilly water on the thought of choosing Indian-American presidential candidate Nikki Haley as a working mate, saying that she was not of that calibre, hours after she herself nixed the chance.

“She is OK, but she is not presidential timber. And when I say that, that probably means she is not going to be chosen as the vice president,” Trump, who’s the dominant front-runner for the Republican nomination, mentioned at a rally in Concord on Friday.

“When you say certain things, it sort of takes them out of play, right? I can’t say, ‘She’s not of the timber to be the vice president’ and then say, ‘Ladies and gentleman, I’m proud to announce that I’ve picked’,” The Hill quoted Trump as saying in regards to the former United Nations ambassador.

Haley, who’s Trump’s closest rival within the polls in New Hampshire, has repeatedly mentioned she is just not working for second place within the Republican major — however had beforehand declined to particularly touch upon whether or not she can be the previous president’s working mate.

Earlier on Friday, Haley, 51, appeared to extra definitively nix the thought, telling a gaggle of voters that being vice chairman was “off the table”.

Haley’s momentum within the Republican race, the place her ballot numbers steadily climbed in latest months, has fuelled hypothesis that she could possibly be a contender as Trump’s No. 2.

Some Republicans like former Speaker Kevin McCarthy had recommended Haley can be choose to stability out the previous president’s weaknesses as a candidate.

Some in Trump’s orbit, together with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), his son Donald Trump Jr. and former adviser Steve Bannon mentioned selecting Haley as a working mate would result in a revolt amongst his most ardent supporters.

However, sources near Trump downplayed the concept that he was ever severely contemplating the Indian-American candidate.

Trump, 77, has in latest weeks levied private assaults towards his former cupboard member, together with sharing a false “birther” conspiracy.

Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to immigrant Punjabi Sikh mother and father in Bamberg, she is the two-term Governor of South Carolina.

Trump continues to be main Haley by simply over 10 per cent, in line with the newest polling common from The Hill.