Speaking after his South Bronx rally with News 12 New Jersey’s Tara Rosenblum while at the Bronx’s Crotona Park, former President Donald Trump opened up on his thoughts about who is on his vice president shortlist headed into the 2024 election. Both Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Byron Donalds, both previously floated as suggestions, were not on the list.
Things began with the two discussing former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, whom Trump has said ran a “nasty” campaign against him when she was gunning for the presidential bid. The two have since made nice. However, Trump said that she is not on his vice presidential shortlist, though they are no longer bickering.
Then, Rosenblum asked who he plans on making his VP if he is not going to give the job to Nikki Haley, as has previously been suggested he might, in order to win over the more moderate GOP center. She asked, “So if not Nikki, then who? Let’s make some news tonight. You and I, for your hometown TV station. Share with me. Share with me your top three candidates for your running mate at this point.”
Trump said that there are lots of candidates and rattled off three names in quick succession, saying, “Well, we have so many. I don’t want to do that, but we have so many. You could take people like Ben Carson. You could take people like Marco Rubio, JD Vance.” Vance, who is connected to Peter Thiel and widely regarded as a populist, is one of the better-liked candidates among Trump’s base on that short list, with Dr. Carson being something of a middle ground and Rubio being well-liked among the Establishment.
Trump, continuing, also threw out Elise Stefanik as another potential option, though she seemed like something of an afterthought compared to the first three. He said, “I mean, there are so many. Elise is doing a fantastic job here. But but I could go on for quite a long time. We have many people that would do a really fantastic job.”
Rosenblum then asked if Trump has any sort of a timeline on when he will make the decision, asking, “Do you have a timeline on when you’ll make the decision?” He suggested that his decision would come sometime during the GOP convention, telling her, “Sometime during the convention.”
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Mike Cernovich, posting on X about Trump’s options and why Vance is the best of the bunch, suggested that Trump could be assassinated if his VP is too Establishment-friendly, saying, “Vance or Carson. Anyone else will pull ticket down or invite assassination. Especially Tim Scott. The regime would LOVE him as VP. Get rid of Trump and now they have another uniparty stooge as POTUS.”
Commenters suggested Vivek Ramaswamy as another option that would be, like Vance, well-liked by the base and loyal to Trump during another Trump Administration. Both Vance and Vivek are plugged into the Peter Thiel world, indicating that they have some support amongst wealthier GOP donors despite not being Establishment candidates.
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