Former White House adviser Steve Bannon said President Trump will pick a female candidate as a running mate for his 2024 presidential campaign.
“My thinking is very structured that I believe President Trump will have a female as the vice president,” Mr. Bannon said.
Mr. Bannon, who served as the chief strategist in the Trump administration for its first seven months, listed a number of female vice president candidates for President Trump, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Kari Lake.
The former top adviser noted that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was a top candidate, saying, “Kristi Noem, I think, will be very competitive given her understanding of the MAGA movement came out of the Tea Party very close to President Trump.”
Mr. Bannon, now the host of the War Room show, also said Ms. Stefanik is a strong candidate given her recent performance in addressing anti-Semitism.
Notably, Mr. Bannon added Ms. Mace to the list despite her voting for a contempt of Congress charge in 2021 against him and holding a different view on abortion than her Republican colleagues. The former White House adviser praised her for having a “Trumpian attitude,” adding, “She comes at this with a brashness and a set of titanium balls.”
“I like the concept, but we’re going to pick the best person,” President Trump said. “But I do like the concept, yes.”
Rumors have long swirled that President Trump was considering a woman as his running mate in order to court the female suburban vote that some strategists believe would be key to beating President Joe Biden.
In the interview, President Trump was also asked about Ms. Noem as a possible pick, with the former president saying she‘d be “fantastic” and saying he’d consider her for VP.
“She’s been a great governor,” President Trump said, adding that Ms. Noem gave him a “beautiful endorsement” during a recent rally in her state.
“Certainly, she‘d be one of the people I’d consider, or for something else maybe. But we have a lot of people. We have a lot of great people in the Republican Party,” President Trump said.
Recent polls show that three GOP presidential candidates, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, are top choices for his vice president running mate if President Trump wins the GOP 2024 nomination.
However, Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley signaled that they would not want to be President Trump’s running mates, while Vivek Ramaswamy said he said that is a “fine position” at his age. In August, President Trump praised Vivek Ramaswamy, saying the young businessman is “great,” “a very intelligent person,” and “has good energy.”
Polls Show President Trump Dominates
With election day 11 months away, multiple recent polls show President Trump is leading President Biden.The poll found President Trump leading President Biden 47 percent to 42 percent in the critical states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Individually, the likely nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties are polling within the margin of error in Arizona (3 percentage points), Michigan (4 points), Nevada (5 points), Pennsylvania (3 points), and Wisconsin (4 points).
Within the GOP, President Trump leads by a wide margin against all other candidates.
