By Jeff Charles
Rumor has it that former President Donald Trump is considering selecting former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as his running mate. The primaries are far from over, but the former president still enjoys a commanding lead over the rest of the Republican field, and his likely nomination has prompted many to speculate about whom he might choose to join him on the ticket for 2024.
According to a CBS News report, some in Trump’s orbit have suggested that he has been soliciting advice on possibly picking Haley as his running mate.
Former President Donald Trump has been asking allies and advisers for their thoughts about Nikki Haley as a potential vice presidential candidate, two sources familiar with the conversations tell CBS News.
The feedback from the MAGA crowd regarding putting Haley on the ticket if Trump wins the GOP nomination has been overwhelmingly negative, according to these GOP sources. Politico first reported that Trump allies are working to quash the possibility of a Trump-Haley ticket.
The former South Carolina governor has been gaining ground in recent polls, and a top Trump adviser tells CBS News one internal prediction is Haley might be a close third in Iowa to DeSantis, or that she could even come in second.
As the report suggests, folks in MAGA world are not too happy about the prospect of Haley joining the ticket. Some have made their feelings known on X, formerly known as Twitter.
If Trump chooses Haley, it will be widely heralded as the perfection of 44-D chess. TRUMP OWNED THE ESTABLISHMENT, they’ll say, because they need him now, not the other way around!
I’m already about to vomit even thinking what we know will be said. https://t.co/huVC24YzaJ
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 23, 2023
Get this warmonger away from my ticket https://t.co/aEeJM7AuE4
— Patriot J (@PatriotJ) December 23, 2023
Absolutely not. No. Not under any circumstances should this happen. https://t.co/sc8xfTP7Cr
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) December 23, 2023
If Trump were to select Haley, it might not please his base, but it could potentially help him reach moderates and independents. She could help the ticket appeal to women and suburban voters, a demographic with which the former president has underperformed. Even further, Haley could give Trump an edge over Biden in swing states, according to the findings of a poll released earlier in December.
POLITICO examined four recent surveys from major pollsters that included multiple general-election matchups. The Fox News, CNN/SSRS and Marquette polls all showed Haley running stronger against Biden than Trump.
To understand why Haley outperforms Trump against Biden, we looked at what we’ll call Biden-Haley voters: People who would vote for Biden in a 2020 rematch with Trump, but switch to Haley when she’s the hypothetical GOP nominee instead. Roughly 43 percent of the electorate would vote for Biden in either matchup, according to Marquette’s polling, and 47 percent for Trump or Haley but not Biden.
On the other hand, the base cannot be discounted. These are the people who have been most gung-ho about getting Trump back in office to finish what he started in 2016. To these folks, Haley still represents the establishment. Her hawkish foreign policy stances don’t exactly endear her to the MAGA base either. This could become an albatross around Trump’s neck.
The former president will still need to maintain his support with the base in 2024, and having Haley on the ticket might pose a challenge in this regard.
I’d be fine with it. Maybe some on the job MAGA training would do her some good.
I can skip the entire election if she is his choice. Ben Carson would be fine with me.
He would be great and he would likely not stab anyone in the back. He could then become the FIRST black President.
CBS floated some ridiculous story about President Trump asking advisors their opinion of Nikki Haley as a VP option. That story is nonsense. Anyone in the orbit of Donald Trump knows Nikki Haley is a nonstarter.
Whomever he selects must be full on MAGA. We need more than just four years of MAGA to set things right for America.
And cutthroat. They should be capable and willing to go after the deep state and the anti-American contingent in the establishment with relentless vigor.
Should President Trump pick this warmongering dizzy dingbat, that tells me that the “Republican” Party is a total scam (and that he, too, is a scam.) No, I have faith that this whole thing is a ruse on the president’s part. (Although, admittedly, he has picked some doozies in the past.)