Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany described why choosing businessman Vivek Ramaswamy for vice president on the 2024 Republican ticket would be a “fool’s errand” on Wednesday.
The Outnumbered co-host was asked by Dana Perino about the chances of former President Donald Trump choosing Ramaswamy as his running mate for the election after Ramaswamy dropped out of the GOP race to endorse Trump and delivered a fiery pro-Trump speech at a Tuesday New Hampshire rally.
“I think slim to none,” McEnany said. “First, Jason Miller was asked about this — he advises President Trump — and he said no to Vivek. However, that was before Vivek dropped out.”
McEnany told Perino that Republican voters are not looking for a “carbon copy of the nominee” in a vice presidential candidate and explained that adding Ramaswamy would be politically redundant in that he does not expand Trump’s winning coalition of voters.
“Vivek and Trump, they pick up the same base of voters. It’s the MAGA voters, the conservative voters,” McEnany said.
“You want someone who’s going to add to your ticket,” she said. “I think we’re at a moment in time similar to 1980 where Reagan chose George H.W. Bush to unify the Republican Party.”
Trump and Ramaswamy are political outsiders, two successful businessmen who boast they cannot be bought and paid for. Throughout Ramaswamy’s defunct 2024 primary campaign, he repeatedly praised and defended the former president while the other candidates launched attacks at Trump.
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Last week, Trump revealed he knows “who it’s going to be,” referring to his vice presidential pick, but this was before Ramaswamy dropped out and endorsed him.
“Trump needs every single Republican vote, so choosing someone who is just like him, I think, is a fool’s errand,” McEnany said.
