OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi barked at a reporter on Friday during a press conference after former President Donald Trump’s name came up.
Trump told New York Magazine that he has made up his mind about running again in 2024, indicating that he will do so.
“Look, I feel very confident that, if I decide to run, I’ll win,” Trump said.
“Well, in my own mind, I’ve already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore. In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision,” he continued.
“I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after,” he added. “You understand what that means?”
“Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision,” he said, a reference to the upcoming midterm elections in November. “Let people know. I think a lot of people would not even run if I did that because, if you look at the polls, they don’t even register. Most of these people. And I think that you would actually have a backlash against them if they ran.
“People want me to run,” he added.
During the presser, Pelosi was asked to respond to a report that Trump appears to have decided to run again in 2024.
“Trump has indicated that he plans to announce a 2024 run in the next month or so, what impact would that have on the midterms? And would it benefit Democrats in your opinion?” a reporter asked.
“Do I ever even mention his name? Would I even waste my time talking about him?” Pelosi snapped in response.
“What I will say is…Democrats have absolutely no intention of losing the House in November, and the Senate, too,” she went on to say. “We are campaigning on kitchen table issues that affect America’s working families…”
“I don’t speculate on who’s running in 2024 even if it’s the former occasional occupant of the White House,” Pelosi said of the 45th president.
WATCH:
.@SpeakerPelosi on possible Trump 2024 presidential campaign announcement soon: "Do I ever even mention his name? Would I even waste my time talking about him? What I will say is…Democrats have absolutely no intention of losing the House in November, and the Senate, too." pic.twitter.com/GWjhdN8nA4
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 14, 2022
Trump and the California Democrat have a long-running feud. Famously, Pelosi was seen tearing up Trump’s State of the Union Address in February 2020.
With the question of whether Trump will run again in two years seemingly unofficially answered, the question then moves to who may become his running mate, since it is not likely to be former Vice President Mike Pence.
According to a May CNN report, one of the names he is looking at is New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, currently a ranking Republican in the House:
While talk about a 2024 vice-presidential pick is of course premature, conversations about adding Stefanik to a future Trump ticket have gained steam in recent weeks at Mar-a-Lago and in other Republican circles, sources said. Current and former advisers and others in Trump’s orbit have privately argued that the New York Republican, who replaced Rep. Liz Cheney as the no. 3 House Republican last year, is a fierce and loyal attack dog, and Trump would benefit from tapping a woman for vice president should he run again.
Two people familiar with the matter said Trump has been surveying close friends and allies on what they think of Stefanik, one of several Republican women he is possibly eyeing for the potential VP slot, though he has not ruled out a few male contenders, too. One of these people said the former President believes Stefanik has undergone a genuine transformation – leaving the moderate wing of the party to join its increasingly powerful “America First” flank.
“There is a part of Trump who thinks he needs a female VP. He definitely likes her, likely because of how effusive she is to him,” an adviser to the former president said.
“President Trump thinks very highly of Elise Stefanik. … She has been talked about in circles close to him as a potential vice president,” Chris Ruddy, a longtime friend of the former president, said. “And there’s a feeling among a lot of people on the Republican side that they need to have a woman on the ticket this time.”
