Former President Donald Trump has his eyes set on a possible Vice presidential partner for the 2024 presidential election.
It is likely that the 45th President of the United States will campaign to be the 47th and one of the names he is looking at is New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, CNN reported.
While talk about a 2024 vice-presidential pick is of course premature, conversations about adding Stefanik to a future Trump ticket have gained steam in recent weeks at Mar-a-Lago and in other Republican circles, sources said. Current and former advisers and others in Trump’s orbit have privately argued that the New York Republican, who replaced Rep. Liz Cheney as the no. 3 House Republican last year, is a fierce and loyal attack dog, and Trump would benefit from tapping a woman for vice president should he run again.
Two people familiar with the matter said Trump has been surveying close friends and allies on what they think of Stefanik, one of several Republican women he is possibly eyeing for the potential VP slot, though he has not ruled out a few male contenders, too. One of these people said the former President believes Stefanik has undergone a genuine transformation – leaving the moderate wing of the party to join its increasingly powerful “America First” flank.
“There is a part of Trump who thinks he needs a female VP. He definitely likes her, likely because of how effusive she is to him,” an adviser to the former president said.
“President Trump thinks very highly of Elise Stefanik. … She has been talked about in circles close to him as a potential vice president,” Chris Ruddy, a longtime friend of the former president, said. “And there’s a feeling among a lot of people on the Republican side that they need to have a woman on the ticket this time.”
It is unknown if the representative would want the job, but CNN reported that she is interested in being the Republican WHIP if the GOP wins the House in 2022.
“Congresswoman Stefanik is 100% focused on serving New York’s 21st Congressional District and as House Republican Conference Chair helping lead the efforts to take back the House in 2022 to fire Nancy Pelosi once and for all to save America,” Stefanik senior adviser Alex DeGrasse said.
But if it is not Stefanik, many close to the former president believe that he will pick a female for the job.
“I could see Trump convincing himself he needs to pick a female VP to help with his suburban women problem,” one of his advisers said.
During a fundraiser this year the former president praised the New York representative.
“I want to congratulate Elise on her success. Man is she moving fast. That means at this rate she’ll be President in about 6 years,” he said.
Other names that have been mentioned include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
This month, Stefanik joined with more than two dozen GOP colleagues who are pushing for a resolution that would expunge the former president’s second impeachment after labeling it the result of a “sham process.”
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) is heading up the push against Speaker Nancy Pelosi, noting in a statement:
“Democrats used their second impeachment resolution to once again weaponize one of the gravest and consequential powers of the House. This was never about the Constitution; it was rooted in personal politics.”
Stefanik added: “The American people know Democrats weaponized the power of impeachment against President Donald Trump to advance their own extreme political agenda.
“From the beginning of this sham process, I stood up against Nancy Pelosi’s blatant attempt to shred the Constitution as House Democrats ignored precedent and failed to follow the legislative process,” she continued.
“But President Donald Trump was rightfully acquitted, and it is past time to expunge Democrats’ sham smear against not only President Trump’s name but against millions of patriots across the country,” Stefanik noted further.
Reporting from Conservative Brief.
