It’s hard to imagine how a decision to be made two and a half years from now could generate such a huge glut of media fervor today, but the lucky person who Donald Trump will eventually select to be his running mate in 2024 has already got people chattering.
Is Trump even running for sure, you ask? The 45th president hasn’t indicated either way, but all the signals point to another campaign. The master public relations manipulator wants to keep everyone in suspense until the suitable time to spill the beans, which purportedly will arrive after next year’s midterm elections. Then there are the Federal Election Commission’s fundraising rules, etc…
Regardless of the actual justifications, it’s in Trump’s best interest to sustain the uncertainty. For if Trump revealed he was all-in for 2024, liberal cable news shows would simply run footage of January 6 over and over again with some Democrat commentator reliving and relaying the emotional damage he, she -- or xe -- sustained on that fateful day. People would cease concentrating on senile Joe Biden’s disastrous administration and instead home in on the polling results of possible 2024 matchups.
But it’s clear that the media is growing tired of picking on West Virginia Democrat senator Joe Manchin for his possible “no” vote on Biden’s Build Back (More) Better and there are only so many times you can ask the dimwitted president what he thinks will heal the economy, lower gas prices or reverse the runaway inflation and shortages we’re encountering in the marketplace. So, why not bring up possible running mates for Trump to argue over?
In a column titled “‘They’re all begging me’: Trump’s 2024 veep tryouts get underway”, Marc Caputo reported at Politico:
“According to conversations with a dozen Trump advisers and close associates, the former president doesn’t feel bound by geographic or ideological considerations — or any standard political rules at all.
“Those familiar with his thinking say his selection will be determined by two factors that rate highest in Trump’s estimation: unquestioned loyalty and an embrace of the former president’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
“’A lot of times, a presidential candidate will pick a running mate to balance out wings of the party. But with Trump, that’s not the issue. He is the party, basically. It’s so united behind him,’ said John McLaughlin, one of Trump’s campaign pollsters. ‘So his choice, if he runs, will come down to what he wants. It would be a much more personal decision this time.’”
I don’t want to keep harping on the subject, but a left-leaning political gossip magazine like Politico never resists slipping in the word “baseless” in front of “claims” regarding Trump and the 2020 election. Liberal journos are either ideologically driven or lazy in maintaining that Trump’s continued focus on elections integrity is “baseless.” The audits that have been conducted in states such as Arizona found plenty of irregularities in the mail-in ballots.
Therefore, Trump’s claims weren’t or aren’t “baseless” at all. There are lots of leads to follow in any ongoing investigation, and the left will never cease in its mission to win elections no matter what it takes -- including having billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg dump hundreds of millions into tilting the results -- so, we can only hope the 2020 election remains at the forefront of debate. Trump won’t let it go, nor should he.
The left wins as soon as we stop mentioning fraud. And they’ll continue to insist that new voter integrity laws like the ones in Georgia and Texas serve to “suppress” the votes of minorities. Democrats aim to federalize all elections and guarantee themselves the prospect of universal vote-by-mail, which was a complete farce. Whenever they bring it up, we should reply, “What about 2020 and the shenanigans in Fulton County?”
Beyond the obvious, Caputo’s piece discusses Trump’s upcoming running mate choice in somewhat useful terms. As would be expected, the “experts” think the would-be GOP nominee’s criteria revolves around his narcissistic “It’s all about me” personality. If indeed one of Trump’s qualifications for sharing his ticket is unquestioned loyalty to him and his agenda, my reaction is: What’s wrong with that?
Would the American people truly desire a vice president who “thinks independently” and is poised to keep an eye on the chief executive’s decision making? Did Joe Biden select nasty air-brain loser Kamala Harris because he thought she might not be loyal? Don’t be ridiculous. He’d never admit it, but Biden opted for Harris because of her skin color and gender, but also because he figured she’d embarrass herself so thoroughly that people would not want to impeach him hence they end up with her.
Politico surmises that Trump will give much consideration to either a minority and/or a woman candidate, not because he feels he needs to, but because it would balance his ticket. It’s highly doubtful Trump would paint himself in a corner the way Biden did last year by announcing ahead of time that he was planning to select a woman for his VP. That type of identity politics game might raise eyebrows in the Democrat party, but unlike liberals, conservative voters value substance above everything else.
The list of potential female vice presidents isn’t especially long in Trump’s orbit. The media will bring up Nikki Haley’s name just because she’s been a governor and Trump’s UN representative -- and because she’s been critical of her boss. But outside of establishment circles, Haley isn’t nearly as popular, and there’s simply no way Trump would trust Nikki not to stab him in the back at her first convenience.
I found Caputo’s mention of (Tennessee Senator) Marsha Blackburn to be very interesting (she’s supposedly on a list of potential VP’s). Blackburn is unquestionably conservative and would be a dedicated Trump loyalist, but I don’t see her agreeing to such a high-profile national role at this stage of her life and career. Marsha will be 72 years old in 2024… another factor against her.
The political experts seem to think that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is no longer being considered for Trump’s #2, and I agree on this note. Noem was viewed as an up-and-comer earlier this year, but has since cooled off to a large extent. In the post January 6 days when everyone assumed Trump was finished politically, there was much chatter about who would succeed him atop the GOP. Noem’s name surfaced along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, but her veto of a conservative bill that would’ve protected female high school athletes from being displaced by transgenders -- and her lame reasons for rejecting it -- wiped Kristi off the board.
DeSantis is thought to be high up on Trump’s short-list for vice presidents, but the Politico piece indicated the former president considers DeSantis as more of a budding rival than a political partner. I’m not an insider nor an expert on Donald Trump’s personal deliberations, but here’s thinking a man like Trump would never discount someone who he thought would improve his own chances of winning the Oval Office again just because of petty jealousy.
The Florida governor has a lot on his own plate these days, his reelection campaign next year and his wife’s recent cancer diagnosis among the reasons he’s probably not thinking much beyond his immediate demands. If Trump does run again and practically all of the other Republican hopefuls exit a race they almost certainly can’t win, DeSantis will be one of the more attractive alternatives in a Trump veepstakes competition.
If Trump opts to “balance” his ticket with a prominent minority conservative, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is supposedly being considered. Scott is a fine man with an attention-grabbing personal story and a promising political future, but like with Marsha Blackburn above, I don’t see Trump choosing him for the constitutional next-in-line.
Scott would certainly refute the baseless media claims of Trump’s racism, but the Palmetto State senator would also be under intense pressure from the “woke” mob to comment on any incidents involving police and minority suspects or public officials that suggest racial motivations were at play. Plus, the media would mercilessly depict him as an Uncle Tom traitor to his ethnicity for even considering joining Trump on the Republican platform.
That’s a heck of a lot of distraction for a presidential candidate who demands attention for himself, the figurehead of the MAGA movement. Trump serves as his own spokesperson. Is there anyone more capable and qualified for the role?
While we’re into wild speculation, shouldn’t Trump take into consideration former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany for his vice president? She’s too young now, but will turn 36-years-old in 2024. McEnany is brilliant (Georgetown, Oxford, Harvard Law Grad), extremely articulate, sharp as a tack and a fierce defender of everything Trump. She wasn’t an early supporter, but it’s clear she’s earned her way through.
If Trump is truly seeking a loyalist as VP who will join him in battling the left and the Democrats in every conceivable way, Kayleigh McEnany is the perfect one to do it. She’s not a politician… but who cares? Americans need capable leaders with genuine principles, not career swamp dwellers who’ve never held a real job. Know anyone who fits this description?
We’ll know in good time whether Donald Trump plans to run again for president. If he does, he’ll hold total sway over his veep choice. Why shouldn’t he?
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