WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is not saying whether she would back Republican Nikki Haley for president, days after the former South Carolina governor announced her 2024 White House bid.
"There are going to be many others that I expect will throw their hats into the ring," Collins told NEWS CENTER Maine in an interview Thursday. "But I think very highly of Nikki Haley."
Collins said she knows the former United Nations ambassador "personally," calling her "very bright."
Haley made the announcement in a video Tuesday, becoming the first to challenge former President Donald Trump for the republican nomination.
"I don't care if they underestimate me because that's always fun," Haley said Thursday night to a crowd at a town hall event in Exeter, New Hampshire. "They said I couldn't win when I went up against a 30-year incumbent [for governor], and I did."
Collins noted her "friend and colleague" Tim Scott, who is also from South Carolina, is about to launch a listening tour across the United States in preparation for a run of his own.
"He may well run," Collins said. "I think we're going to have some really good choices."
In the past, Collins has voiced her concerns about a Trump run in 2024 but never definitively said she would not support him.
When asked Thursday if she supports Trump running again, Collins simply said, "I do not."
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