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By Rachel Dobkin
Weekend Reporter
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Former President Donald Trump told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo in a taped interview released on Sunday that he has been "watching" people for his potential running mate in the 2024 election, including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
The Context:
With Trump being the current frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, people have been speculating as to who he might pick as his vice president. A number of his former GOP rivals have been floated, including Scott, who endorsed Trump last month after he dropped out of the Republican primaries in early November. Noem's name has also been put out there as a potential running mate. She endorsed Trump in early September.
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What We Know:
Bartiromo asked Trump during the interview that aired on Sunday Morning Futures, "When will you announce who your VP is?"
"Not for a while. We have so many great people in the Republican Party, but not for a while," he said.
When pressed again on his potential running mate, Trump said, "I speak to everybody. I called Tim Scott this week. A lot of people like Tim Scott. I called him and I said, 'You're a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself.'"
Trump also threw Noem's name out there. "Kristi Noem has been incredible fighting for me. She said, 'I'd never run against him because I can't beat him.' That was a very nice thing to say," he told Bartiromo.
Bartiromo had Noem on Sunday Morning Futures on Sunday and asked her about the former president: "Has he contacted you about potentially being his running mate?
"No. We talk all the time, but we've never had that conservation," she replied.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign and Scott's office via email as well as Noem's office via online form for comment.
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Views:
Last month, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk listed Scott and Noem, among other names, as "good VP candidates that the grassroots would embrace" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Thomas Whalen, an American politics expert at Boston University, previously told Newsweek about Scott, "[Representative Elise] Stefanik and Scott make the most sense because they could potentially bolster him politically where he is the weakest—among suburban women voters and African-American voters...He's [Scott] already the butt of jokes on SNL Weekend Update for his craven sucking up to Trump. He makes the old Mike Pence seem subtle."
In an opinion piece published last month from Politico contributing writer Rich Lowry, who is also editor-in-chief of conservative news publication the National Review, Noem is described as a would-be "loyal vice president." However, Lowry wrote, "Politically, though, she doesn't add much," adding, "She may be too rural and MAGA to help among suburban women, which is presumably what Trump hopes a female candidate will do."
What's Next?
In order for Trump to win the GOP nomination, he will have to beat Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and former United Nations ambassador. While Haley trailed behind Trump in double digits in the Iowa Republican caucus and the New Hampshire primary election, she told reporters on Thursday, "I am not going anywhere."
Update 2/4/24, 12:05 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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