Donald Trump's lead in the GOP primary polls has led many to believe his winning the GOP nomination is inevitable. As such, there has been speculation about his potential running mate since even before he officially announced his candidacy.
The only thing that we knew was that it wouldn't be Mike Pence.
Various names have been suggested in the past, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y), Kari Lake (R-Ariz.), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). In light of his recent endorsement of Trump over Haley before the New Hampshire primary, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is back on the VP radar as well.
I'm not here to make any guesses as to whom Trump will actually pick, but I do know that based on the reactions of Trump supporters on social media, there really isn't anyone that they all universally like.
A month ago, Trump was reportedly "asking allies and advisers for their thoughts about Nikki Haley as a potential vice presidential candidate,” and you could almost hear the collective retching in response to that story. I couldn't exactly blame them because Haley's positions on a variety of issues have been awful. But because polls show her performing well against Biden, there's an argument to be made—which Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter went into at length—that a Trump-Haley ticket would do better than any other potential GOP ticket with Trump at the top.
While the MAGA crowd hates the idea now, if Trump did pick Haley, what would happen?
According to Megyn Kelly, Trump might still pick Haley despite the opposition from Trump supporters. She explained why during an appearance on The Rubin Report.
“Is it out of the realm of possibility that he chooses Haley? Absolutely not. It’s not. I realize that MAGA doesn’t want it. They’ve convinced themselves that Nikki Haley is against all the things that they stand for," she explained. "In particular, the new isolationist strain within the Republican Party, she's the opposite; she's more of a neocon."
Related: The Left’s ‘Big Lie’ About Trump’s Record
“But Trump has to win, Dave. Trump must win. He has no choice for himself, and I think he thinks America needs him to win, but he personally really must win if he doesn’t want to go to jail,” she explained in reference to partisan criminal charges by the Biden administration, and if the polls say that a Trump-Haley ticket would expand his appeal to moderates and boost the ticket, he'll do it. “If that’s your situation, I think you might be thinking, ‘MAGA is gonna get over Nikki Haley if I tell them to get over Nikki Haley.’”
“I could not agree more,” Rubin told her. “When I see all these people that are suddenly like, 'No, he’ll never do it,’ and/or, ‘I won’t vote for him if he chooses Nikki,’ it’s like, you’ll do what Trump kind of tells you to do, actually.”
Are they right? I would say absolutely. If Trump decides Nikki Haley is the best running mate to ensure victory, his supporters will quickly overlook their current issues with her. How do we know? Because MAGA used to love Ron DeSantis, too, and turned on him the moment Trump did, just as they did with pretty much everyone Trump brought into his administration who later fell out of favor with Trump: Jeff Sessions, Mad Dog Mattis, Bill Barr, Kayleigh McEnany, etc., etc.
MAGA will get on board quickly. No doubt about it.
