Speculation on who Donald Trump will pick as his running mate for 2024 can be a little less speculative now because, in a recent town hall in South Carolina, Trump revealed six names he has on the shortlist.
*drumroll*
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), and most surprising of all, former Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump said were "all good" and "all solid."
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As nice as a Trump-DeSantis 2024 ticket might be, there might remain a smidge of bad blood between the two. NBC reported on a group call DeSantis made in which he said Trump' should not make his VP pick based on identity politics.
"Now we have a diverse Republican Party. I want everybody in the fold, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t want people representing 10, 15% of the party being in the driver’s seat," DeSantis said. He does have a point since that's how Kackling Kamala Harris was chosen.
Additionally, DeSantis was worried that Trump would surround himself with yes-men and did not express interest in being VP anyway (even though that would make 2028 much, much easier for him to win, a consideration he did not deny).
This leads us to Ramaswamy. Given how much he defended Trump in the primary, he arguably has the best chances, since he is fiercely loyal to the guy and arguably has the most name recognition between everyone. Plus, he retains the outsider status Trump ran on in 2016, which solidifies the anti-establishment angle of the campaign.
I already talked about Tim Scott back in January when he first endorsed Trump. Being an African-American Christian conservative well-liked by his constituents may have some pull, but South Carolina is already a red state, so this may not be crucial to ensure a Trump victory.
Related: Tim Scott for Trump's Running Mate?
Donalds has the potential to sway black voters to Trump like Scott does, and like Ramaswamy, Donalds has been on the Trump Train since day one. The only real issue is that Donalds is relatively new to Congress, which some find appealing since he has not yet been immersed in the Swamp like others, but this also means he does not have the name recognition that may convince undecideds.
Plus Florida is another red state that Trump does not necessarily need to win, as much as the Florida Democrats are trying to fight back.
Noem has the same red-state problem the others have, but Gabbard has real dark horse potential. Like Trump, she is a former Democrat who left the party over its elitist and warmongering mindset and has been a darling on the right ever since. It helps that right after Trump said she was on the list, Gabbard would be at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser for the 917 Society.
It is still too early to say which of these six is the safest bet, but as Trump said before, who he picks has little bearing on the results.
With that in mind, I once asked ChatGPT to write a speech where Trump announced that his running mate was a sock puppet. I'd say Socky (which is what ChatGPT named it) has a pretty good chance.
