Trump lists possible VP choices but points to one as better than the rest

On February 20th, Donald Trump provided a little insight into who might join him on the campaign trail in 2024 if he wins the GOP nomination and the list was as interesting as it was weird.

While speaking with Laura Ingraham at a Fox News town hall event, the former president suggested he could choose anyone from former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard to his former presidential rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott were also all listed off by Trump according to Politico.

“Are they all on your shortlist?” Ingraham asked Trump, to which Trump replied: “They are,” Trump said, before adding: “Honestly all of those people are good. They’re all good, they’re all solid.”

Trump is well known for talking off the cuff about a lot of things, but it would be very interesting if he was actually considering someone like Ron DeSantis or Tulsi Gabbard to be his running mate. In fact, all of the people mentioned could bring something to the former president's campaign.

However, Trump made it clear that there was one possible running mate who stood above the rest: Tim Scott. Scott was at the event, and he was a former presidential contender before he dropped out of the 2024 Republican Primary and endorsed Trump. He has since campaigned relentless for the former president.

“A lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there,” Trump said, gesturing to Scott. “He’s been such a great advocate. I have to say this in a very positive way, Tim Scott, he has been much better for me than he was for himself," Trump told Ingraham.

"I watched his campaign, and he doesn’t like talking about himself. But boy does he talk about Trump. … I called him and I said, ‘Tim, you’re better for me than you were for yourself,’” the former president continued. However, this isn't the first time Trump has suggested Scott could be his choice for 2024.

Trump is currently the frontrunner favored to win the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Political analysts have been predicting its outcome for months, and it was thought to be a foregone conclusion. 

The former president will likely have the pick of the litter when it comes to choosing who will run beside him in 2024. Trump’s popularity is a much different animal than it was in 2016 or 2020, and his base voters remain incredibly loyal to him. 

This opens up a whole world of interesting possibilities for who might be the right choice to run with the former president against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Speculation that up to now has offered up a lot of interesting possible candidates. 

For example, Politico noted everyone from Kari Lake to Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Mike Pompeo to J.D. Vance could be on the former president’s radar as the best people to help him win his reelection campaign against Biden. 

However, Trump has hinted at some of the candidates he believed would make a good match for Vice President at the beginning of February 2024. During an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News, he listed two potential people he’s currently considering for the job. 

Bartiromo asked Trump when he planned to announce his selection for his running mate and the former president answered: "Not for a while. We have so many great people in the Republican Party, but not for a while,” according to Newsweek. 

Trump wasn’t let off the hook, though. Bartiromo pushed the former president on who he was planning to select again and Trump said that he was talking to everybody before he pointed out that he had just spoken with Tim Scott on the phone. 

"I called Tim Scott this week. A lot of people like Tim Scott," Trump explained. "I called him, and I said, 'You're a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself.’" It was a glowing endorsement. But what could Scott bring to the table?

In Politico’s review of possible Trump ticket candidates, it noted that the South Carolina Senator would be a historic pick for the Republican party and would provide the former president with an inroad to the country’s Black voters. 

Scott was careful about how he criticized Trump during his time as a political candidate in the primary but he is what Politico called a “low-reward pick” since his performance in the primary was lackluster. He could also have trouble navigating a Trump White House.  

The other option Trump threw out as a possibility was Kristi Noem, a relatively unknown politician at the national level but a very strong supporter of the former president who has gone to bat for him on a number of occasions according to Trump. 

"Kristi Noem has been incredible fighting for me,” the former president said, “She said, 'I'd never run against him because I can't beat him.' That was a very nice thing to say." While it may have been a nice thing to say, but does that attitude make Noem a good running mate?

Politico analysts noted the South Dakota Governor is a Trump loyalist who “desperately wants him to pick her.” But she wouldn’t add much to Trump’s reelection effort and may even be too rural and MAGA to help Trump pick up the suburban female vote. 

There are also allegations that Noem is involved in a romantic relationship with Trump political operative and lobbyist Corey Lewandowski. Even though this has been denied by a Noem spokesperson according to Sioux Falls Live, it could hinder the campaign. 

“She’s been a fine governor and is a cowgirl and hunter with a classic Western image. MAGA would be delighted in her selection, and she’d surely be a loyal vice president,” Politico wrote. But is that what Trump needs to win in 2024?

When Bartiromo asked if Noem had reached out to Trump about being his running mate in 2024, the former president said that she had not: "No. We talk all the time, but we've never had that conservation,"