Frontrunners revealed in the battle to be Trump’s next vice president
It’s one of the biggest decisions Donald Trump will make in his race to the White House. Who should join him on the Republican ticket? See the list.
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It’s one of the biggest decisions former US president Donald Trump has to make in his bid to return to the White House: who should join him on the Republican ticket?
Trump is soon expected to reveal his vice presidential pick, having spent months grilling his advisers about the options in a process reminiscent of his reality TV show The Apprentice.
As he goes back and forth between the candidates – in between campaign rallies and courtroom appearances including his criminal trial that started last week – Trump is having to mull several factors.
Does he want someone who helps him in the campaign, or helps him in government? If it’s the former, he might want a vice president who shores up his base, or he might want to bring some diversity to the ticket, be it in ideology, race, gender or age.
If it’s the latter, he will have to weigh up a candidate’s experience with the potential for them to steal his thunder. Having already served one term, Trump cannot run again if he defeats President Joe Biden this year, so his choice could end up the 2028 Republican frontrunner.
He will also be thinking about Mike Pence, his former vice president who is refusing to endorse his re-election after Trump’s supporters threatened to kill him in the January 6 riot.
Pence declined to comply with Trump’s order to block the certification of Biden’s 2020 win. So for a second term, unfaltering loyalty could matter more to Trump than other factors.
All of this means the veepstakes field is wide open. Here are 20 candidates and their chances of winning.
TIM SCOTT
The only Black Republican senator. After his presidential run failed, Scott backed Trump so enthusiastically that the former president said: “You are a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself.” But his happy warrior schtick is an odd fit with Trump’s darker rhetoric.
KRISTI NOEM
The South Dakota Governor is angling for the job, singing Trump’s praises and even recently promoting her cosmetic dental work in a campaign glow-up. He says she’s “beautiful”, not to mention “hot as a politician”.
MARCO RUBIO
In 2016, the Florida senator was ruthlessly attacked by Trump as they fought for the Republican presidential nomination. But Rubio has since become a supporter and could bolster the campaign with Latino voters.
BEN CARSON
A prominent Black conservative who served as Trump’s Housing and Urban Development secretary in his first term. Carson remained loyal to the former president after January 6.
KARI LAKE
The TV presenter emerged as a conservative firebrand in her failed 2022 campaign to be Arizona’s governor. She is now concentrating on winning the state’s crucial Senate race.
NIKKI HALEY
Choosing his main rival in the Republican nomination race would bolster Trump’s support among party moderates and independents. But Haley hasn’t endorsed him and says his candidacy is “suicide for our country”, while Trump cruelly nicknamed her “birdbrain”.
TUCKER CARLSON
The conservative pundit made his name on Fox News during Trump’s presidency before he was ousted by the network. Donald Trump Jr says Carlson would “certainly be a contender”, although Carlson once said of Trump in a text message: “I hate him passionately.”
VIVEK RAMASWAMY
The brash biotech mogul lavished praise on Trump even during his own ill-fated presidential run. The 38-year-old is now a key surrogate but is reportedly more likely to fill a cabinet post.
JD VANCE
After once wondering if Trump was “America’s Hitler”, Vance became a senator for Ohio last year with his support. Trump now calls him a “fighter” and Vance says he is keen on being his VP. In a sign of his loyalty, Vance has said he would not have certified Biden’s 2020 win.
ELISE STEFANIK
A formerly moderate congresswoman who is now one of Trump’s key allies in the House Republican leadership team. Trump reportedly calls Stefanik “a killer” and his former top strategist Steve Bannon reckons the 39-year-old New Yorker is “at the top” of his list.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE
One of Trump’s most vocal and loyal supporters in Congress. The Georgia representative’s far-right views are popular with conservatives but Taylor Greene would be off-putting for moderates and independents.
BYRON DONALDS
An outspoken but inexperienced congressman who would bring racial diversity to the ticket, although both he and Trump are from Florida. Donalds says it’s “surreal” to be in the mix.
SARAH HUCKABEE-SANDERS
The first woman to lead Arkansas and the youngest governor in the US. But Trump was annoyed that his former press secretary took so long to endorse his re-election, and she appears content in her current job.
TULSI GABBARD
A former Democratic congresswoman who ran for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020 before making a conservative switch. Trump says Gabbard is on his shortlist, and she says she would be “honoured to serve”.
RON DESANTIS
Trump’s one-time heir apparent could have been a VP candidate until he ran for the top job. Trump mercilessly mocked the Florida Governor over everything from eating pudding with his fingers to maybe wearing lifts in his boots, and even falsely suggested he was a paedophile.
MIKE POMPEO
Trump’s CIA director and secretary of state passed on his own presidential run last year. While Pompeo has criticised the former president, he is “pretty inclined to go try and be part of the team”.
DOUG BURGUM
A wealthy businessman who became North Dakota’s Governor and sought the presidential nomination himself. Trump says he would be a “very good” vice president, although Burgum’s own campaign fell flat.
KATIE BRITT
The youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate. She was tapped to deliver the party’s response to Biden’s State of the Union this year, a sign of her rising star, only to fluff it with her abnormally dramatic speech delivered from a kitchen.
NANCY MACE
While the South Carolina congresswoman sharply condemned Trump over January 6, Mace now thinks voters have moved on and says “anybody would say yes” to a VP nomination.
MIKE PENCE
“I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence said last month. So he definitely won’t be on the ticket again.
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