Trump Reveals2024 Running Mate Could Be One of His GOP Opponents

Donald Trump, the former president, has made hints that he would consider some of his 2024 GOP primary opponents as running mates. In a Sunday interview with Fox News, Trump expressed his opinion that Sen.

Tim Scott had “done a very good job” and that they were “very talented people.” He stopped short of saying who he would pick, but he did say that his running mate could “possibly” be among those in the 2024 field.

The former president Trump disclosed on Sunday that one of his top rivals if he wins the presidency in 2024 may be his choice for vice president or a member of his cabinet.

Speaking on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News, Mr. Trump suggested businessman Vivek Ramaswamy or Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) could be his running mate. So far, Mr. Trump has directed his criticism toward Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP primary, while Mr. DeSantis has suggested that he wouldn’t want to be Mr. Trump’s vice president in a recent interview.

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Trump responded, “Possibly” when asked whether his running mate would come from the GOP primary in 2024 by Fox host Maria Bartiromo.

“I think Vivek has done a very good job, frankly. I think some others have done a good job,” the former president said. “You have some good people on the stage actually. I think you have some very talented people,” he also said. “I’ve been impressed by some of them. Some of them I’m very friendly with, actually.”

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He added that “I think you have good potential Cabinet members, too,” without specifying.

When asked about Mr. Scott, the former president had praise for the Republican senator.

“I think he’s a very good guy. We did opportunity zones together … Tim is very good,” Mr. Trump said. “I mean, I could see Tim doing something with the administration, but he’s right now campaigning, and I’m sure Tim and everybody else would say I’m only interested in one, but Tim is a very talented guy and you have other very talented people.”

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The question of whether Mr. Trump would take the recently declared candidate, former Vice President Mike Pence, into consideration was not put to him. Since the beginning of 2021, Mr. Trump has occasionally criticized his former assistant for failing to take any action on January 6 during the Joint Session of Congress during the presidential certification process.

Trump, who was detained on federal charges last month, is easily leading the pack despite the GOP 2024 field having grown. According to a Morning Consult poll issued last week, the former president is currently leading Mr. DeSantis by around 39 percentage points, or 56 percent, to 17 percent.

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In contrast, Mr. Ramasamy saw an increase in recent weeks, polling at 8%. The poll found that Mr. Pence received 7 percent support.

According to a RealClearPolitics average of recent months, Mr. Trump leads Mr. DeSantis, who has 20.6 percent support, by nearly 33 points with 53 percent of the vote.

Regarding Mr. DeSantis, the Republican governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, was mentioned over the weekend as a potential running mate by the governor. After she appeared to back Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Trump claimed that the governor had shown what he called disloyalty to him.

“Of course,” Mr. DeSantis said when asked whether he would consider the second-term Republican. “I mean, she’s one of the top public servants in America.”

Mr. Trump criticized Mrs. Reynolds last week for what appeared to be a cozy relationship with Mr. DeSantis while claiming her public neutrality as the top Republican in the state that will host the first-round presidential caucuses in less than six months. Mrs. Reynolds is well-liked among the state’s GOP base. Mrs. Reynolds has debated Mr. DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis while also attending Mr. Trump’s first campaign event in Iowa in March. Mrs. Reynolds has also appeared alongside other GOP candidates for the White House.

On the former president’s social networking site, Truth Social, the former leader claimed responsibility for giving Reynolds the governorship after Republican Gov.

During the tenure of President Trump, Terry Branstad was appointed as the American ambassador to China. He commented, “Now she wants to be ‘NEUTRAL’,” and added that he would not be inviting her to any of his campaign events.

And last week, Mr. DeSantis declared in an interview that, should Mr. Trump win, he would not want to serve as his vice president.

“I don’t think I’m a No. 2 guy. I think I’m a leader, governor of Florida. I’ve accomplished a lot,” Mr. DeSantis said in an interview with the Wisconsin Right Now podcast. “I think I could do more staying there than being VP, which doesn’t really have any authority.”

But Mr. DeSantis indicated that he would support Mr. Trump if he wins the GOP nominee. “I am going to support the Republican nominee,” he said when asked about whether he would support the ex-president.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.