OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Yet another name has emerged as a possible running mate for Donald Trump as the former president continues to rack up primary wins and bury his remaining serious opponent, Nikki Haley.
Political observers opined that Trump could be considering freshman Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) after the party selected her to provide the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address.
“Senator Britt who is the new freshman senator from Alabama, and who some very smart people believe will be Trump’s vice presidential pick — she has her big audition night because she’s going to deliver the response to Biden,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said during a radio interview with WABC 770 AM-N.Y. on Sunday.
“It’ll be interesting to see if Britt rises to the occasion. If she does, it will be a major step up in her potentially being Trump’s vice presidential candidate,” he continued.
Pro-Life Senator Katie Britt Will Give Republican Response To State Of The Union https://t.co/CfnlwxMvFr pic.twitter.com/A14bdme9pV
— LifeNews.com (@LifeNewsHQ) March 1, 2024
During her GOP primary race against U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, Britt secured the endorsement of Trump midway through. Last month, Britt reciprocated by endorsing the former president’s candidacy for a return to the White House, stating that he is “the only candidate who can secure the border.”
Several others are reportedly on the former president’s shortlist, including Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
Britt’s name hasn’t been mentioned much before in terms of a potential Trump running mate, but former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has hinted that the Trump campaign will select a female running mate.
“My thinking is very structured that I believe President Trump will have a female as the vice president,” he said, adding that the America First movement needs to “make sure it ain’t Nikki Haley.”
Trump is still months away from officially capturing the 2024 Republican nomination, but he is actively considering who he will choose as a running mate, and he dropped another new name into the mix on Thursday.
During a visit to the U.S. border in Texas, Trump was accompanied by several state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, who the former president said was on his shortlist for VP, Newsweek reported.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity after his tour of the border near Eagle Pass, which has seen thousands of migrants crossing illegally since President Biden took office and reversed nearly all of Trump’s immigration and border security policies, the 45th president called Abbott a “spectacular man,” adding the governor is “absolutely” on his short list for running mate.
Abbott would “certainly he would be somebody that I would very much consider,” Trump told the host.
Newsweek added:
Eagle Pass is a key area of contention after a Supreme Court ruling in January said federal agents could cut razor wire. The Biden adminstration argued it prevented them from accessing important parts of the border.
Since, Texas has blocked federal agents from entering, putting the state directly at odds on the border issue with Trump’s political foe President Joe Biden.
Biden also visited Texas this week, where he called on Trump to “join” him in an effort to pass the bipartisan border bill that stalled in Congress after the latter urged Republicans to block it.
Trump and his allies in Congress rejected the bill because it granted more powers to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to bypass current immigration law while still allowing as many as 5,000 people into the country illegally.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared the measure “dead on arrival” in the House if it had passed the Senate because of those issues and others.
