With Donald Trump running for president again in 2024, the question has been raised of who he should pick as his running mate. Mike Pence, for obvious reasons, is not likely to be the pick.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said this week that he has some ideas about who Donald Trump should pick: that it should be a woman.
“What I’ve said to President Trump is like, you have to create a permission structure where women who do not like you vote for you again,” Gaetz said last Friday on the Timcast, as reported by Business Insider.
Gaetz is thought to have the ear of the former president and even voted for him on multiple ballots in the recent House Speaker election.
Who Will Donald Trump Pick for VP?
Gaetz suggested Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was White House press secretary during the Donald Trump presidency.
The Congressman also mentioned South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who of late has been trading barbs with another possible 2024 Republican candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
Sanders was only sworn in as governor of Arkansas earlier this month, moving into a job formerly held by her father, Mike Huckabee. On Fox News this week, she stopped short of endorsing Trump for president in 2024.
“I love the President, have a great relationship with him. I know our country would be infinitely better off if he was in office right now instead of Joe Biden but right now my focus isn’t 2024,” she said.
Gaetz, who made clear that he supports Donald Trump in 2024, was asked if he would consider serving as vice president, but answered “I think he’s got better choices.”
He also said he believes that DeSantis will be president one day, but he prefers Donald Trump next year.
The current vice president, Kamala Harris, is the first woman to hold that position, although Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008 were nominated by their parties. One of the interviewers, on the podcast, was wearing a shirt that said “Joe and the Hoe Gotta Go.”
There were some reports last fall that Trump was considering Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-FL) for the vice presidential nod. The Daily Beast, last week, listed Greene as a potential vice president, along with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who was a Democrat when she was in Congress but has of late been campaigning for Republican candidates and guest-hosting on Fox News. Trump, per the Daily Beast, has been impressed with Gabbard in her Fox News appearances.
Also in the interview, Gaetz defended a Democrat, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), in relation to the 2020 controversy in which he was approached by a woman who turned out to be a Chinese spy.
“The Internet is not gonna like what I have to say,” Gaetz said, “but within the Republican conference, I am Swalwell’s biggest defender on the Fang Fang thing, and here is why: He was a city councilman in the city of Dublin, and some chick showed up with money wanting to hook up with him… he’s a single guy, running around California. He’s supposed to have the defensive briefing to turn down some hot Chinese chick who wanted to donate money and jump into bed with him? He wasn’t a member of Congress, he didn’t have access to intelligence.” He was more critical, however, of things Swalwell has said about Trump and Russia.
Gaetz has in the past sympathized with Democrats accused in sex scandals, including former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA). Hill, however, later broke with Gaetz when he was accused of wrongdoing himself.
Meanwhile, the former vice president, Mike Pence, is indicating that he might want to run for president himself in 2024 and is courting the Christian conservative wing of the party, criticizing Trump’s recent comments about how the Dobbs decision led to Republican losses in the 2022 midterms.
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
