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Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has boosted her already high profile in recent months. Now, rumors are swirling that she could potentially be on former President Donald Trump’s VP “shortlist.”
A report from Inside Edition details Greene’s rise in the Republican Party and how recent reports have speculated that she’s at least being considered to be Trump’s running mate should he win the nomination. And Greene appears to have suggested behind the scenes that she’s also open to the idea.
The Inside Edition segment cited a report from the Washington Examiner, which alleged that several women could be high on Trump’s shortlist. Some of the other names mentioned were: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
But Greene’s name has been gaining a lot of attention lately.
NBC’s Jonathan Allen reported that several people have spoken to Greene and have been told “about her weighty ambitions,” Mediaite noted. “The second-term congresswoman has managed to align herself with the top Republican in the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), acting as one of the Republican’s most vocal allies in his fight to become House speaker.”
“This is no shrinking violet, she’s ambitious — she’s not shy about that, nor should she be,” said Steve Bannon, host of top podcast “War Room” and an early leading political adviser to Trump.
“She sees herself on the shortlist for Trump’s VP. Paraphrasing Cokie Roberts, when MTG looks in the mirror she sees a potential president smiling back,” he added, a reference to the late political reporter who worked for NPR, ABC News, and other outlets.
“She’s both strategic and disciplined — she made a power move, knowing it would run up hard against her most ardent crew,” Bannon added. “She was prepared to take the intense heat/hatred short-term for the long-term goal of being a player.”
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She made some noise recently when she spoke with New York Times Magazine writer Robert Draper, who alleged that Greene told him that she may be on the ticket with Trump in 2024.
During an appearance on MSNBC, Draper said “no decision” has been made on Trump’s possible running mate but that “it is likely” that the former president has had the same conversations with other prominent Republican women.
“To be fair, Ali, it’s very likely that Trump has had this conversation with half a dozen other people too,” he said to host Ali Velshi.
However, Draper added there is something that Greene has that others may not have.
“What Greene possesses that Trump so craves is loyalty. She has always been there for Trump. She has always had his back and after his experience with his last running mate, Mike Pence, it’s clear that he’s going to prize loyalty above all else, so I wouldn’t count it out,” he said.
NEWS: MTG wants to be Trump VP
“She sees herself on the short list,” Steve Bannon told NBC.
A second source who has advised her said her “whole vision” is to get on the ticket.
This explains the *why* of her oft-chronicled recent rebrand efforts.
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) January 25, 2023
When Draper spoke to The Daily Beast’s “New Abnormal” podcast he said “that Greene had risen quickly in her first term in Congress by using the same tactics she honed as a right-wing social media influencer harassing Democratic staffers, and she could shoot to the second-highest office in government,” Raw Story reported.
“Republicans kind of wanted to kick her to the curb immediately,” said Draper, per the outlet. “But instead, she became a fundraising dynamo, came to have this huge social media influence, and ultimately came to be very influential within the party itself.”
Draper went on to say that Trump has been seriously discussing Greene as a potential VP since February, and though he has likely considered others as well, Greene has another quality that may propel her to the top, the report said.
“She has been unflaggingly loyal to Trump throughout,” Draper said. “What is Trump concerned about most of all in a VP after the Mike Pence experience? Loyalty. He knows that if he needs someone to fight for him to overturn a presidential election. He has every reason to expect that Greene would be by his side and would be his proximate warrior.”
Greene is not the only female Republican lawmaker under consideration by Trump, according to previous reports.
