OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The field of potential 2024 running mates for Donald Trump, as he appears to be on a glide path to secure the GOP nomination and make a third bid for the White House, has narrowed to just a handful of candidates, The Messenger reported this week, based on interviews with a dozen top Republicans, including some Trump advisers.
Previously, reports have suggested that Trump is eying a woman as his running mate and would-be vice president, but The Messenger has identified some male contenders as well.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio): In his freshman term, Vance has emerged as a key ally of the former president, with a low-key style in the Senate that meshes well with the bombastic Trump. And this week, he pushed back on left-wing outrage over a Truth Social post where Trump said the millions of migrants flowing illegally into the country on President Biden’s watch is “poisoning the blood of our country.”
“Why do you think that Donald Trump’s language is targeted at the blood of the immigrants and not at the blood of the American citizens who are being poisoned by the fentanyl problem?” Vance told The Hill Tuesday. “This is ridiculous. It is clear from watching the speech in context and taking note of what is happening that he was discussing the very real fact that a drug epidemic is poisoning American blood.
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik: Another ardent supporter of Trump, Stefanik has become the fourth-most powerful Republican in the chamber in short order after the GOP conference ousted Trump critic and now-former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) last year.
Last month, Stefanik (R-N.Y.) ripped Manhattan Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the former president’s civil fraud trial in New York, alleging “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” in a letter to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Stefanik wrote that Judge Engoron’s “bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system, where Judge Engoron is not honoring the defendant’s rights to due process and a fair trial,” adding that Trump’s position as the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary amplifies those “serious concerns.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders: After serving a stint as Trump’s press secretary, Sanders followed in her father’s footsteps to become governor of the Natural State. And she remains an ally of the former president, who heartily endorsed her bid.
“It’s not a question between right and left anymore. It’s normal versus crazy, and President Biden and the left are doubling down on crazy,” Sanders said in a statement ahead of endorsing him last month. “The time has come to return to the normal policies of the Trump era, which created a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America, and that’s why I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for president.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem: Another popular red state governor who has endorsed Trump, her name has been popping up more frequently.
In an interview with Real America’s Voice streaming network earlier this month, Noem touched on several subjects, including potentially becoming Trump’s running mate.
“Well, there’s a lot of people they’re talking about for vice president… I have long supported President Trump; he had his priorities right when he was leading this country,” Noem said.
Noem endorsed Trump during a campaign rally in her state in September, CNN reported, “fueling speculation about the role the Republican governor may play in his third bid for the White House.”
“I think she’s fantastic,” Trump said in an interview in mid-September about her. “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.”
