OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Every major poll shows that former President Donald Trump all but has the 2024 GOP nomination locked up, barring something unexpected.
Now, a larger question looms: if he wins the nomination, who will Trump select as his running mate?
According to a report from The Messenger, which conducted interviews with twelve prominent Republicans, including some Trump advisors, the list of possible running mates for Trump in 2024 has been pared down to a select few.
There have been rumors that Trump is interested in a female candidate for vice president and running mate, and it may be down to two high profile names — South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik.
Noem, a popular red state governor who has endorsed Trump, has been popping up more frequently in reports as someone Trump likes.
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.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Trump’s VP pick should tell him like it is. When asked if she fits the bill she said she’s been honest with the president since the beginning. pic.twitter.com/gkxK4DpwK2
— Jake Traylor (@jake__traylor) January 4, 2024
I’ve known @realdonaldtrump for years.
From working together on tax cuts and trade agreements, to celebrating our Freedom with fireworks at Mount Rushmore, President Trump has always fought for the American people. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/tJIZZkCxEO
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) January 9, 2024
Stefanik, another ardent supporter of Trump, 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.”
Elise Stefanik defends President Trump:
“Our border crisis is poisoning people through fentanyl. And you know why? Because of Joe Biden’s wide-open border. I stand by President Trump.” pic.twitter.com/L1fLrlfSns
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 7, 2024
Former First Lady Melania Trump shook things up recently when reports emerged that she believes one-time Fox News star Tucker Carlson should become her husband’s running mate, according to Axios.
“Here’s an interesting twist: Melania Trump is an advocate for picking Tucker Carlson, the booted Fox News star. She thinks Carlson would make a powerful onstage extension of her husband, a source close to Trump told us. The former first lady has made few campaign appearances this time around, but a Trump-Carlson ticket might encourage her to hit the trail,” the outlet reported.
Axios added, “However, many people close to Trump have dismissed the idea of Tucker Carlson because they believe he would never choose someone who could surpass him. And Trump’s staff is convinced (correctly) that Carlson can’t be controlled. But the two men talk a lot.”
Last month, New York Times columnist Maggie Haberman, during an interview with host Jamie Weinstein for an episode of The Dispatch Podcast, talked about how the former president plans to fill his new administration with devoted supporters if he wins a second term. Because of this, Weinstein asked Haberman what he thought about rumors that Trump might choose Carlson to be his vice president.
“It’s a real thing that I am hearing as a possibility,” Haberman said. “The likelihood of it, I don’t know. I think there will be a pretty professional vetting process, honestly. I know that might sound unbelievable based on what we’ve seen from Trump historically, but Trump’s current political team is the best—at least as a non-incumbent—that he’s had, and there’s just a different level of control.”
While Haberman continued to speak about Carlson as a potential Trump VP pick, she noted that “the risk with Tucker Carlson and Trump is that Tucker Carlson’s a very big star in his own right, and I’m not sure how Trump would contend with that.”
Late last year, Trump indicated he’d consider Carlson as a potential running mate.
“I like Tucker a lot; I guess I would,” Trump said during an appearance on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.” “I think I’d say I would because he’s got great common sense. You know, when they say that you guys are conservative, or I’m conservative — it’s not that we’re conservative; we have common sense. We want to have safe borders. We want to have a wall because walls work.”
