OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former top adviser Steve Bannon says his onetime boss, Donald Trump, is going to pick a woman as his running mate should he win the 2024 GOP nomination, which appears increasingly likely at this point as he leads fellow Republican hopefuls by wide double-digit margins.
“My thinking is very structured that I believe President Trump will have a female as the vice president,” Bannon told another Trump administration alumni, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer on the latter’s podcast on Friday, per The Epoch Times.
The “War Room” podcast host went on to drop a name.
“Kristi Noem, I think, will be very competitive given her understanding of the MAGA movement came out of the Tea Party very close to President Trump,” Bannon said.
In an August interview with Fox News, Noem discussed becoming Trump’s running mate and also explained why she chose to sit out the race after analysts expected her to jump in, noting that the contest is essentially Trump’s to lose.
“The fact is, none of them can win as long as Trump’s in the race. And that’s just the facts. So why run if you can’t win?” she told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.
“I’ve probably run 10 statewide races. I’ve won them all. I’ve never lost. If I get into a race, I’m gonna win. So that’s just how we do it. And President Trump did some great things for our state and for our country. As governor — and everybody should be grateful for this — he let me do my job. When he was president, he let me do my job, and I appreciate that,” Noem added. “Biden doesn’t do that.”
In a nod to the crowded GOP presidential field, she noted that several candidates are either Republican governors or former governors, joking that it seems as though “almost all of them” are running.
Noem continued to heap praise on Trump, who maintains a substantial lead over his 2024 primary contenders, and subtly suggested the possibility of endorsing him during his upcoming visit to South Dakota in early September, which she did.
“He is inspirational. People always show up to hear something interesting,” Noem said. “And yeah, you’ll hear something from me, too.”
After she heartily endorsed him, Trump gave his own ringing endorsement of her in return.
“I think she’s fantastic,” Trump said after his trip to South Dakota. “She’s been a great governor. She gave me a very full-throated endorsement, a beautiful endorsement, actually. It’s been a very good state for me, and certainly, she would be one of the people I would consider or for something else, maybe. We have a lot of great people in the Republican Party.”
Earlier, Trump said he likes “the concept” of selecting a woman as his running mate, but that he’s not wedded to the idea, per se, and is instead looking for “the right person.”
“You always do a little bit, but I really don’t think it’s time,” Trump said, per the Washington Examiner. “I want to win, and, you know, it’s very interesting about running mates, when you get down to a vice president, they said, ‘Nobody has ever made that kind of a difference.’ It’s still about the person that’s going to be president.”
Not only have Trump’s polling numbers rocketed since he was hit with four indictments in New York, Washington, D.C., Fulton County, Ga., and southern Florida, but he is also moving past Biden in critical swing states, according to a growing number of polls.
“The states that had the narrowest margin of victory for either candidate last cycle were Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with Biden winning all but North Carolina. Across those key swing states, Trump is ahead of Biden 41% to 35%, and 24% of voters remain undecided, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll,” The Daily Caller reported.
