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 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. Moreover, the move could turn off the more populist types, who are virulently antiwar.
Of course, Trump has not made a decision yet as the primaries are still in full swing. Nevertheless, this development has already piqued the interest of the chattering class and will continue to fuel speculation going into 2024.