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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Former President Donald Trump has the Republican Party abuzz with speculation about possible running mates after his commanding win in the Iowa caucuses and his expected victory in the New Hampshire primary next week.
With the return of Washington’s beloved parlor game coming so soon after the GOP primary votes were cast, it’s clear that Trump’s nomination is being treated as inevitable. Insiders told Axios that there’s a three-person shortlist to be Trump’s running mate:
(1) New York Rep. Elise Stefanik
(2) Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance
(3) Nikki Haley, a current 2024 presidential candidate and the former United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration
Axios reported that some other names in the mix include Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake.
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Stefanik, the chair of the House GOP conference, is “at the top,” former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon told NBC News.
In New Hampshire tomorrow, before the primary on January 23, Stefanik will campaign alongside the former president, who was the first lawmaker to support Trump. At a hearing on campus anti-Semitism in December, Trump allegedly told allies, “She’s a killer,” following Stefanik’s now-viral confrontation with university presidents.
Vance is one of the most vocal supporters of Trump in the GOP, sharing his views on immigration and foreign policy.
“I’d love to see a J.D. Vance,” Donald Trump Jr., who prides himself on his ability to channel the MAGA base, told Newsmax as he rattled off his shortlist. “People who are principally in alignment as well as aggressive.”
The most controversial name on the list, assuming the report from Axios is accurate, is Nikki Haley.
Insiders told Axios that Haley would trigger an “all-out revolt in the MAGA world,” especially given Haley’s hawkish foreign policy views and establishment ties.
Former President Trump’s dominance in the Iowa caucuses — and his expected triumph in New Hampshire — has the Republican Party buzzing with speculation about potential running mates. https://t.co/WvXr6ZF0KK
— Axios (@axios) January 19, 2024
Haley told a group of voters at a diner in Amherst, New Hampshire, that she refuses to be “anybody’s vice president.”
“Since I don’t want to be anybody’s vice president, that’s off the table,” tweeted Jonathan Martin, a senior political columnist for Politico, on X Friday.
Haley has previously declared, “I don’t play for second, I’ve never played for second,” when pressed on whether or not she would join Trump’s ticket if asked. Trump allies have fumed at the idea of Haley joining the ticket.
“I would do whatever I could to make sure it wasn’t Nikki Haley!” Donald Trump Jr. told Newsmax on Thursday. “That’s my opinion, I don’t make these decisions.”
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News: @NikkiHaley just told a table of voters at a diner in Amherst, NH – “I don’t want to be anybody’s vice-president, that’s off the table”https://t.co/MhhWE34Vt0
— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) January 19, 2024
Haley, meanwhile, has ramped up her criticisms of Trump this week, rebuking the former president for using the widely disproven claim that the 2020 election was stolen as a proxy for his support.
“Trump says things Americans aren’t stupid to just believe what he says. The reality is, who lost the House for us? Who lost the Senate? Who lost the White House? Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump. Nikki Haley will win every single one of those back for us,” Haley told reporters in New Hampshire on Thursday.
