Conservative-leaning voters who attended the recent TPUSA conference in Phoenix, Arizona, had some interesting ideas on who they hope former President Donald Trump will choose for his vice-presidential running mate.
Held on Dec. 17-18, Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Action event also featured an online straw poll that surveyed the 1,113 attendees of the event.
The poll was perhaps unsurprising in who the attendees of the event chose to lead the ticket, Real Clear Politics reported.
Donald Trump was far and away the winner on that question, with a whopping 82.6 percent of respondents picking the ex-president to once again lead the part in the race for the White House.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second — though a very far distant second — with 7.6 percent of the straw poll vote. Next came the exuberant political novice Vivek Ramaswamy, who garnered 5.8 percent of the vote to take third place.
Amusingly, the choice of the GOP establishment, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, finished in fifth place with barely a blip on the voters’ radars. Clearly the TPUSA folks are not much interested in what the GOP establishment wants.
In fact, Haley did so poorly, at a minuscule one percent, that the undecideds out-polled her at 2.5 percent!
🚨🚨BREAKING: Results from the @TPAction_ are in from #AMFEST2023:
Trump dominates as 83% of attendees’ first choice as the GOP nominee, followed by 8% for DeSantis, 6% for Vivek, and 1% for Nikki Haley.
Tucker Carlson was the first choice for VP at 35%, Vivek at 26%, and… pic.twitter.com/n2VSkg3Jaz
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 19, 2023
Do you agree with the straw poll?
Yes: 77% (1128 Votes)
No: 23% (339 Votes)
It was in the question of Trump’s vice presidential pick where it became a bit more interesting.
Thirty-five percent gave former Fox News star Tucker Carlson the nod to be Trump’s running mate.
In a close second place, at about 10 percent behind, the TPUSA attendees chose Ramaswamy, a candidate who has led a very outspoken and unconventional campaign, trying to gain the top seat himself.
Ron DeSantis also figured into the VP poll, winning the support of 6 percent who said he should take the second chair on the Trump ticket.
Attendees also ranked “deporting Biden-era illegal immigrants” as their top priority, even ahead of “election integrity.” In third place came “defunding the deep state.” Despite that it is a favorite topic of top X accounts and conservative talk radio, eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs ranked dead last in the poll.
With an overwhelming majority, the respondents said at 55.4 percent that the U.S. should continue to back and aid Israel. However, less than one percent backed Ukraine. Also, 39.4 percent said we should stop sending financial aid to both Ukraine and Israel.
The respondents seemed to like newly seated House Speaker Mike Johnson, who enjoyed positive support from 57 percent of those surveyed.
New York Rep. George Santos got a measure of support too, at least as far as how many supported his recent expulsion. A majority of 47 percent said that Congress should not have expelled him. Meanwhile, only 32 percent agreed with his expulsion.
Many of the respondents wanted to see some house-cleaning in Washington, D.C., as well, with 49.6 percent saying that President Joe Biden should be removed from office and 24.3 percent saying Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be impeached. And 15.2 percent wanted U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland removed.
Speaking of house-cleaning, a clear majority were upset with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, as 87 percent said she should be ousted from the chair. In fact, 56 percent said her departure would make them more likely to donate money to the Republican Party.
