'He's fallen so far': Nikki Haley rips into Trump and says he won't run for federal office again

• Nikki Haley, Trump's former UN ambassador and ally, slammed him in a new Politico interview.

• "Never did I think he would spiral out like this," she told Politico after the January 6 riot.

• Haley, a Republican, is heavily rumored to run in the 2024 presidential race.

• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Nikki Haley, a high-profile Republican and once a close ally to former President Donald Trump, rebuked him in an interview with Politico published Friday.

"Never did I think he would spiral out like this," Haley told Politico of Trump. "I don't feel like I know who he is anymore."

"The person that I worked with is not the person that I have watched since the election," she said.

Haley previously served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations and had remained a consistent supporter after she left his administration in 2018. At the Republican National Convention last August, Haley praised Trump and called on voters to reelect him because he "has always put America first" and "earned four more years as president."

Yet since Trump's conduct in the deadly Capitol riot on January 6, Haley has struck a completely different tone.

"He's fallen so far," she told Politico. "We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."

Haley had been among the notable Republicans that stayed quiet while Trump launched dozens of legal challenges to overturn the 2020 results based on claims that the election was rigged and stolen. Federal judges dismissed his lawsuits, and the FBI and Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 race.

"At the time, I didn't think that was dangerous," Haley told Politico. Now, she said she's "deeply disturbed by what's happened to him."

Haley also said she was "disgusted" by Trump's treatment toward former Vice President Mike Pence, who he had attacked in tweets during the riot.

Haley has publicly criticized Trump before, notably over his racist remarks and his response to the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville. But her latest condemnation comes as she's rumored to launch a 2024 presidential bid, possibly taking the reins of the GOP from Trump.

"I don't think he's going to be in the picture," Haley said of Trump's future in politics. "He's not going to run for federal office again."

Trump's press office did not immediately return Insider's request for comment. The former president has not shut down the idea of running for office again. He faces an ongoing impeachment trial over his role in the Capitol siege, but is unlikely to be convicted and barred from seeking public office in the future.

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