Greenville, South Carolina – Former President Trump has indicated that at least six candidates are on his short list for vice president, including three former rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The leading front-runner for the Republican nomination was full of praise for one of the candidates who joined President Trump at a Fox News town hall in this upstate South Carolina city on Tuesday.
During a segment on FOX News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” President Trump was asked about six running mates: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott; Billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Congressman Byron Donald of Florida, and former Democratic independent Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
“Are they all on the list of nominees?” host Laura Ingraham asked the former president.
“Yes,” Trump replied. “Honestly, they’re all good people. They’re all good people, they’re all solid.”
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Former President Trump sits during a town hall hosted by Laura Ingraham on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on February 20, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Paul Steinhauser – FOX News)
Trump has a history of making off-the-cuff comments, and many in the political world have criticized DeSantis, as both men and their campaigns have been at each other’s throats for more than a year, until the Florida governor suspended his 2024 campaign last month. I think it would be unreasonable for him to be Trump’s running mate. Right before the New Hampshire primary.
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Mr. DeSantis supported Mr. Trump at the time, but has not participated in the campaign in the weeks since. In fact, Mr. DeSantis also traveled to South Carolina on Tuesday for an official event and did not partner with Mr. Trump.
Ramaswamy has long been a strong supporter of Trump’s “America First” policies, but last month he withdrew his candidacy for the White House after the Iowa caucuses and endorsed former President Trump. He has teamed up with Trump multiple times since then and is scheduled to campaign on Trump’s behalf in South Carolina on Tuesday.
Former President Trump (right), Republican presidential candidate, looks at Sen. Tim Scott (RS.C.) during a Fox News Channel town hall on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, in Greenville, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Mr. Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, put his presidential bid on hold in November and enthusiastically endorsed Mr. Trump in New Hampshire last month. He also joined the former president on the campaign trail in South Carolina over the past two weeks.
When Scott arrived at the Greenville Convention Center, he received a warm welcome from a large audience made up primarily of Trump supporters.
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“A lot of people are talking about that gentleman over there,” Trump said, pointing to Scott, who was sitting in the front row of the audience.
“He was such a great advocate. I have to say this in very positive terms, Tim Scott, he was much better to me than he was to himself. I loved his campaign. I was watching, he doesn’t like to talk about himself. But would he talk about Trump?” the former president said of Scott. “I called him and said, ‘Tim, you’re better to me than you are to yourself.'”
South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott receives a very warm welcome from the audience at Fox News Town Hall with former President Trump on February 20, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Of the other three people on Trump’s confirmed list, Noem, a conservative and longtime Trump supporter and surrogate, is a right-wing Black lawmaker and Trump ally in the House. The same goes for Mr. Donald.
Gabbard, who served in the Iraq War and ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, became more critical of the party after leaving Congress. Gabbard became an independent two years ago and became a popular figure among conservatives.
The Trump town hall was held four days before Saturday’s South Carolina Republican presidential primary, where polls show Trump is facing his last remaining major rival, former U.N. ambassador and former Palmetto state governor Nikki Haley. They maintain a very large double-digit lead over the US.
“Some of you, maybe some of you in the media, are here today to talk about my campaign,” Haley said in a speech in Greenville hours before Trump arrived in the city. I’m here to see if I’m going to fall off. , I’m not. I’m far from it.”
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“I refuse to resign. South Carolina votes on Saturday, but on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere,” Haley said.
She added that she was “not afraid of retaliation from President Trump.”
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, former two-term South Carolina governor and later ambassador to the United Nations, greets supporters after giving a speech in Greenville, South Carolina, on February 20, 2024. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Asked about Haley’s comments during a Fox News town hall, President Trump said: “She shouldn’t have lost her home state. That shouldn’t have happened anyway, and she’s lost that in a big way.” Stated.
“I don’t think she knows how to get out,” Trump surmised. “She just can’t get out of herself.”
President Trump reiterated that he has excluded Haley as a running mate.
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