Arguably the most important question regarding the future of Republican Party politics has been answered.
We do not yet know that answer, but we have plenty of reports on which to base our guesses.
At a Fox News town hall on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump casually announced that he already knows whom he will select as his running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
“I can’t tell you that, really. I mean, I know who it’s going to be,” Trump said in response to a question about his potential vice president.
According to Real Clear Polling, Trump currently holds a 50-point lead over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy come in third and fourth, respectively.
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Barring shenanigans, therefore, the 77-year-old former president should cruise to the nomination.
Given Trump’s age and the fact that, if elected, he would serve only one term, Wednesday’s announcement certainly raised eyebrows. After all, Trump’s decision might reveal whom he regards as the MAGA movement’s heir apparent.
With this in mind, I have compiled a list of Trump’s potential VP picks based on various reports.
Last month, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon predicted that the 45th president would choose a woman. Thus, the following list leans decidedly in the female direction.
Here are 12 potential Trump running mates, presented in three tiers ranging from least to most probable:
Tier 3: The Long Shots
Nikki Haley
Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations has presidential aspirations in her own right. And she appears to have become the darling of the anti-Trump Republican establishment.
Tucker Carlson recently declared that he would “advocate against” a Trump-Haley ticket, calling it “poison.” Donald Trump Jr. also quashed the idea.
Thus, her inclusion on this list would make little sense had Bannon not mentioned her by name last month.
Marsha Blackburn
Speaking of names floated by Bannon, the Tennessee senator also seems like a remote possibility.
On the other hand, Blackburn made news in November when she demanded the release of flight logs for convicted sex offender and alleged human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane.
Will Trump’s VP choice be a woman?
Yes: 100% (2 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
That sort of public insistence upon transparency could endear her to Trump supporters, many of whom would not be surprised to discover establishment politicians among the disgraced ranks of Epstein’s alleged pedophile clients.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
The Georgia congresswoman emerged as a reported VP possibility as early as January 2023.
Greene has spent several years trying to hold President Joe Biden and other administration officials accountable for corruption or negligence. She has pursued impeachment against Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
This potential pick does not have much recent momentum, however, so the congresswoman remains a long shot.
Nancy Mace
The South Carolina congresswoman said in October that the prospect of serving as Trump’s running mate “intrigued” her. Bannon also mentioned her name in December.
Mace won the approval of Trump supporters when she joined seven other Republicans in voting to oust then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
On the other hand, at times she has made questionable comments and even engaged in identity politics. She remains an option, though perhaps an unlikely one.
Tier 2: Never Say Never
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
The governor of Arkansas — and Trump’s former press secretary — has plenty of patriotic and anti-woke credentials. Furthermore, she has endorsed her former boss.
Recall, however, that in July a report indicated that the former president had grown frustrated with Sanders.
Either way, as in Greene’s case, the prospect of a Sanders VP selection has not generated much recent buzz.
Kari Lake
The former Republican gubernatorial candidate now seems an unlikely choice.
For one thing, she has emerged as the front-runner in the race for U.S. Senate in Arizona. One could argue that she would serve Trump’s movement more effectively as a senator than as his running mate.
On the other hand, perhaps no female candidate better aligns with Trump’s ideas and goals. So, while we might prefer to see her in the Senate, we cannot dismiss her as vice president just yet.
Tucker Carlson
Readers might quarrel with the beloved conservative commentator’s appearance in the second tier. And perhaps he should rank higher. Despite substantial support among Trump voters, however, Carlson remains an unlikely VP choice.
For one thing, when an interviewer raised the possibility in November, Trump acted as though he had never thought about it.
“I guess I would. I think I’d say I would,” the former president replied when asked if he would consider Carlson as a running mate.
Meanwhile, Carlson told an audience in December that such a pairing would require divine intervention, saying, “God would have to yell at me very loud.”
Conversely, former first lady Melania Trump is reportedly pushing her husband to choose Carlson. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman called Trump’s consideration of Carlson “a real thing.”
Carlson also won a straw poll at last month’s Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix, where respondents indicated their preference for the journalist as Trump’s running mate.
Thus, he has plenty of support and momentum.
Still — and this might prove to be an egg-on-the-face prediction should Trump make the surprise pick — it remains difficult to envision Carlson on the campaign trail, not least because he already does so much good in his current role.
Tier 1: The Favorites
Ben Carson
According to one November report, an unnamed source “familiar with President Trump’s thinking” named Carson the “leading frontrunner” for VP.
A brain surgeon who served as Trump’s secretary of housing and urban development, Carson offers many appealing qualities. Intelligence and humility rank near the top of the list.
Carson also has never betrayed or abandoned the former president. And considering Trump’s past experiences on that front, one cannot understate the likely appeal of Carson’s loyalty.
Kristi Noem
After appearing to waver in November 2022, the South Dakota governor endorsed Trump in September.
On one hand, Noem’s initial lukewarm reaction to Trump’s candidacy could give the former president pause. After all, if loyalty works in Carson’s favor, then why would its absence not disqualify Noem?
Recall that during his speech in South Dakota on the occasion of Noem’s endorsement, Trump appeared visibly emotional while describing the damage done to the country under Biden.
Remember, too, that during the madness that engulfed America in the summer of 2020, Trump celebrated the Fourth of July with a speech at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore.
Those moments might seem more symbolic than substantive, but one never knows how they might work on the former president.
Elise Stefanik
The New York congresswoman and chairwoman of the House Republican Conference made headlines in December when she visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
That same month, of course, Stefanik exposed the rot in academia when she grilled three university presidents on their refusal to say whether calls for genocide against Jews violated their schools’ codes of conduct.
In November, Stefanik also filed an ethics complaint against Arthur Engoron, the deranged judge presiding over Trump’s sham fraud trial in New York City. If that did not endear her to Trump, nothing will.
Tulsi Gabbard
Call this a hunch, but the former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii could give Trump a major boost.
When asked in August whether she would consider joining a Republican presidential ticket, she replied that she thinks about such things “every day.”
Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022. Since then, she has regularly criticized Democrats for their embrace of censorship, the deep state and woke ideology, among other things.
In short, on the major issues of the day, she aligns with Trump.
Furthermore, her presence on the Trump ticket would serve as a daily rebuke of radical leftists and the warmongering establishment. And it would invite other disaffected Democrats to abandon the party.
She might not rank as the definitive favorite, but she would make a strong choice.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Like Haley, the entrepreneur remains a candidate for the Republican nomination. Should he come up short, however, Ramaswamy looks like VP material. In fact, he has done more to endear himself to Trump than any other candidate.
“I think he’s great,” Trump said of Ramaswamy in August when asked if he had his eye on him for vice president.
Throughout his campaign, Ramaswamy has positioned himself as the “America first” alternative to Trump. The dark horse candidate has repeatedly attacked the anti-Trump establishment and, in true Trumpian fashion, tussled with the establishment media.
Ramaswamy also proved his appeal to conservative voters by finishing second to Carlson in last month’s Turning Point USA poll.
Best of all, when tyrants in Colorado and Maine removed Trump from their states’ primary ballots, Ramaswamy leaped to the former president’s defense and pledged to remove his own name as well.
Rest assured that Trump noticed.
