With former President Donald Trump continuing to top most polling for the GOP nomination for 2024, insiders are starting to dish on just what the ex-president might be looking for in a vice-presidential running mate.
So far, the former president is far and away the favorite to win the GOP nomination, especially with the one other big name — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — still an expected but unannounced candidate and many are already certain that Trump has it all wrapped up.
The gap in the polls is so wide — and he is also cleaning up in fundraising — that many Trump insiders are already feeling comfortable enough to start casting an eye toward who will be the business mogul’s running mate.
Trump already has a few qualities he is looking for in a running mate, according to insiders who spoke with the Daily Caller.
Some of those qualities reportedly include loyalty to Trump, a charisma of his or her own, and being ideologically aligned with the former president.
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Trump has even said that “a lot of people” are calling him up and pushing themselves as a possible running mate, The Hill recently reported.
“We do know one thing about Trump, is that he puts a lot of weight on how well you present yourself. That really matters to him, so I suspect that will matter for his VP choice,” a GOP consultant inside the Trump orbit told the Daily Caller.
“Loyalty. That’s the necessary characteristic of anyone who wants to be VP. President Trump and the movement was dragged down by disloyalty in the White House,” another insider said.
Trump will likely press this quality to a serious degree this time, since he has hinted that he feels his last VP, Mike Pence, was not loyal enough. Indeed, last year Trump himself nixed any chance that Pence could return to the ticket. In light of Pence’s act of certifying the 2020 election results, Trump insisted that no one would accept Pence returning as VP.
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“I don’t think the people would accept it,” Trump told the Washington Examiner in March of last year.
“Mike and I had a great relationship except for the very important factor that took place at the end. We had a very good relationship,” Trump said. “I haven’t spoken to him in a long time.”
Of course, Pence has said he is nearing a decision to launch his own bid for the 2024 GOP nomination, though his candidacy seems to be one of the most dismissed and overlooked of all the possible candidates.
If Pence has already been excluded by Trump, then who might be in the running?
According to the insiders, possible candidates include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Elise Stefanik of New York, as well as former GOP candidate for Arizona Gov. Kari Lake.
Some say Trump would consider former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — even though she has launched her own bid for the White House. There are also thoughts on offering the slot to GOP governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Kristi Noem of South Dakota.
With that list, the insiders are confirming that Trump is looking for a female VP this time.
“I think he would very much be open to a female… it depends. I don’t believe in diversity for the sake of diversity when it comes to elections and political figures, but I think there are people out there that are female that would be good fits for him,” another GOP consultant told Daily Caller.
A female on the ticket, the insiders say, may also help Trump with the abortion issue that has heated up so red hot since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade after he filled the court with more conservative justices.
One name mentioned most, Daily Caller said, is that of New Yorker Elise Stefanik, who jumped up to endorse Trump for 2024 before Trump himself even announced he was running.
Still, two names on the list have already seemed to have discouraged the notion. Lake reportedly has her eye on a U.S. Senate seat from Arizona, and Greene wants to stay in the House, Daily Caller said.
There is one male who might be a possibility. Some are floating the name of Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.
“I think Hawley is very, very interested in policy. I think he’s not interested in overshadowing Trump. He looks the part, he’s presentable, he’s pretty good on TV, and unlike Mike Pence, he’s actually aligned ideologically to Donald Trump,” a consultant told the Daily Caller.
One drawback to that idea, though is the fact that Hawley hasn’t even endorsed Trump yet.
With all this talk of VPs this early, it seems to show that many in the GOP are already looking for a Trump nomination.
Of course, every single one of these candidates are far smarter, and more media savvy than Joe Biden’s Kamala Harris. Even Biden is reportedly unhappy with Harris. For that matter, even many Democrats are still desperately mulling ways to dump both Harris and Joe Biden from the 2024 ticket.
