Top 10 Trump vice president picks ranked
Conn Carroll
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) may be more competitive in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, but there is no denying former President Donald Trump’s commanding lead nationally, as documented by RealClearPolitics.
If Trump does hold on to his current lead, who is he likely to turn to as his running mate?
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Below are 10 names that have been mentioned as possible Trump vice president picks ranked from least likely to most likely.
10. Vivek Ramaswamy
One of the few on this list Trump has explicitly mentioned as a possibility for vice president, Ramaswamy has already proved valuable to Trump as a loyal attack dog against DeSantis. In a general election, however, it is hard to see what Ramaswamy brings to the table. Voters looking for private sector experience already have Trump, and while the Indian vote is fast growing, it is still nowhere near as big as the Hispanic or black vote.
9. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
Scott’s name has also been dropped by Trump as a vice president possibility, but Scott has so far declined the invitation, explaining that he is “overqualified” for the job. Virtually everyone in the country is overqualified to be vice president as the job has no real duties, but the reality is Scott’s best career path does not go through a Trump White House. He’d have to defend far too many actions and statements that only Trump can get away with. He is far safer in the Senate.
8. Kari Lake
Unlike the first two on the list, Lake would jump at the chance to be Trump’s vice president, as evinced by the fact that she has all but moved to Mar-a-Lago. But that is also becoming her biggest liability in Trumpworld: she just seems far too thirsty for the job. More importantly, it isn’t clear what exactly she brings to the table. The type of female voter attracted to Lake is just as likely to vote for Trump. Lake is no more likely to bring in any new female voters than Trump is.
7. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley
A woman, a former governor, and office holder with foreign policy experience at the United Nations, on paper Nikki Haley would be a great candidate for vice president for almost any name at the top of the ticket. But not Trump. Despite ably serving the Trump administration as U.N. ambassador, Haley has said she is “tired of commenting over every Trump drama.” That’s pretty much the job description for Trump’s vice president. Haley appears to be a hard no.
6. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC)
The only member of the South Carolina House delegation to vote for certification on Jan. 6, Mace was once a target of Trump, who endorsed her primary opponent in 2022. Since then, however, the two have patched things up, with Mace voting both against the creation of the House Jan. 6 committee and for the removal of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from House leadership. For all her other differences with Trump, Mace shares his moderation on abortion, an issue that Trump must diffuse to win in 2024.
5. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR)
A loyal soldier in good standing with Trump, Sanders would appear to be a near-ideal fit for the job. As a woman without an extremist reputation, she could make a credible effort to bring more suburban women back into the party. The problem is she doesn’t appear to want the job. She has not endorsed Trump in the race yet, and it is not clear how being vice president would help her career. Thanks to her past post as White House press secretary, she already has a national profile. Establishing a governing record in her home state is arguably a better career move at this point.
4. Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD)
An attractive female politician who is great on television, Noem has not endorsed Trump for president yet, but she has also said no one else will be the nominee. Unlike others on this list, Trump himself has not named Noem as a possibility, but it has been reported she is on his short list. Noem has had some troubles with social conservatives in the past on transgender issues, but so has Trump. She may have just the moderate pro-business streak Trump is looking for in a running mate.
3. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
Like Mace, Stefanik was once more of a critic of Trump, but she has since said she’d “be honored to serve in the Trump administration” and she also happens to be the highest-ranking GOP official in Congress to endorse the former president. She allegedly already talks to Trump weekly, but claims to have never discussed the vice president job. Clearly the two get along, and clearly Stefanik is willing. She is a strong possibility.
2. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)
Marjorie Taylor Greene was recently kicked out of the generally Trump-friendly House Freedom Caucus, and many have read that as a sign her stock in Trumpworld is declining. The opposite is true. Greene and the Freedom Caucus are on the rocks because she has become a loyal soldier of House Leadership and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). This isn’t because Greene has become any less willing to anger the right people at the right moment, but it does show she has the discipline to be a team player when in power. This is exactly what Trump would need in a vice president.
1. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL)
Everybody assumes Trump will want a female nominee to appeal to white suburban women, but what if Trump, rightly, believes he has a better opportunity to make inroads among black men? Trump did better than Mitt Romney among black men in 2016, and he did even better in 2020. If you were going to pick a political surrogate to appeal to black men, would you pick the childless Kamala Harris? Or the black man with three children who coaches youth football? Donalds would be a strong choice for Trump, and judging by Donalds’s recent attacks on DeSantis, he clearly wants the job.