Hours before the Iowa caucuses kickstarting the Republican presidential nomination process, Indian-American presidential aspirant Nikki Haley has said she is not keen on playing second fiddle to former boss Donald Trump.

Pushing across ice-cold Iowa and hoping for a strong finish in the state, the lone woman in the 2024 presidential race remains confident about her election as the next US President.

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“I don’t play for a second. I’ve never played for a second. I’m not going to start now. I’m not interested in being Vice President. I’m running to be President and I’m running to win and we will,” Haley said in a CBS News interview.

While Trump still leads the Republican pack as the voters’ best bet in November, it is Haley who right now holds a bigger lead over President Joe Biden than either Trump or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in potential head-to-head match-ups, according to a recent CBS/YouGov poll.

“Republicans need to start winning again. I will stomp all over Joe Biden in the general election,” Haley had said in a post on X on Sunday.

An Emerson College Polling/WHDH New Hampshire survey released last week found Haley sitting at 28 per cent in the state’s presidential primary, up from 18 per cent in November 2023.

Trump, on the other hand, had 44 per cent support among Republican primary voters in the state, down from 49 per cent in November last year.

With the New Hampshire primary scheduled for January 23, and South Carolina on February 3, the former UN Ambassador said that the Republican presidential race will be a contest between her and Trump.

“I think it’s going to be me and Donald Trump going into New Hampshire. And you’re going to see it’s already close. It’s going to get even closer. And then we’re going to take it to my state in South Carolina,” Haley told Fox News in an interview.

On being asked by the CBS what she would say to voters who like her for vice president but who are still backing Trump, Haley said: “Well, I think look, if you want four more years of chaos, that’s what you’re gonna get.”

Trump faces 91 felony counts across four trials, including two separate indictments for alleged election subversion and one for withholding classified documents after leaving the White House.

While claims of his executive immunity as President are also under scrutiny, Haley reiterated that she doesn’t want fellow Indian-American Kamala Harris as President.

“You look at those head to head polls, Trump and Biden are pretty much even. It’s gonna be a nail biter of an election. We’re gonna be holding our breath… I don’t want a President Kamala Harris,” Haley told CBS News.