Two of former President Donald Trump’s Republican primary opponents and one former Democrat are on his vice presidential shortlist, Trump indicated Tuesday night.
During a Tuesday town hall in South Carolina, Fox News host Laura Ingraham ran through a list of possible running mates while speaking with Trump.
The list was culled from the audience and included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — both of whom campaigned against Trump — as well as Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who served in Congress as a Democrat but later became an independent.
The Ingram Angle Town Hall with President Donald J Trump – VP choices/conclusion. pic.twitter.com/pYm7mfTnzP
— Breaking News (@TheNewsTrending) February 21, 2024
“Are they all on your shortlist?” Ingraham asked. “And when can we expect that you will announce your choice?”
“They are,” Trump said.
“So, the one thing that always surprises me is that the VP choice has absolutely no impact,” Trump said. “It’s whoever the president is, it just seems.”
Would Tulsi Gabbard be a good VP for Trump?
“I remember when Sarah Palin was actually picked, and she did have a big up, and then they just went after her at a level that nobody had seen,” he said.
Trump said that the vice presidency is “a very important position.”
Tulsi Gabbard compares the Biden/Harris administration to the Putin Regime….
She’s not wrong. We are witnessing political persecution of Trump from highest levels of government.
THEY want to install the next President in Nov. Don’t let that happen.
We must #OverwhelmTheVote pic.twitter.com/9ZChJ1OKGJ
— Sue Knows Best (@sues86453) February 19, 2024
“You would like to get somebody that could help you from the voters’ standpoint,” Trump said.
“Honestly all of those people are good. They’re all good, they’re all solid,”
“I want people with common sense,” he said.
Earlier in the town hall, Trump explained his number one quality for a vice president.
“Always the first quality has to be somebody that you think will be a good president because if something should happen, you have to have somebody that’s going to be a great president,” Trump said.
“A lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there,” Trump said, gesturing to Scott.
“He’s been so great. 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. I watched his campaign, and he doesn’t like talking about himself. But boy does he talk about Trump. And I said, you know, I called him, and I said, ‘Tim, you’re better for me than you were for yourself.’”
In an interview earlier this month on “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump name-dropped Scott and Noem.
“Kristi Noem has been incredible fighting for me. She said, ‘I’d never run against him because I can’t beat him.’ That was a very nice thing to say,” Trump said, according to Fox News.
Noem appeared during a separate segment of that week’s edition of “Sunday Morning Futures,” according to Newsweek.
“Has he contacted you about potentially being his running mate?” Bartiromo asked.
“No. We talk all the time, but we’ve never had that conversation,” Noem said.