(JustPatriots.com)- Former President Donald Trump was the first person to announce his candidacy for president. Now, he seems to be the first person already making moves to potentially select a running mate.
Reports have been swirling recently that Kari Lake, the former anchor for Fox News who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Arizona’s governor in the last election cycle, could be named Trump’s running mate for 2024.
Some online bookmakers that are posting odds for who will be Trump’s running mate lowered Lake’s odds to 7/1 recently.
Lake would seem to be a solid fit for Trump. While she lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs in Arizona’s gubernatorial race last November, she refused to concede the election.
She even claimed that the election was stolen from her, filing lawsuits that claimed there was widespread election fraud in the state. The Arizona Court of Appeals rejected her claims, though Lake has appealed that decision all the way up to the Arizona Supreme Court.
Axios reported recently that Trump is “strongly considering” selecting a female as his running mate for his 2024 campaign. His reason for that decision is he wants to boost his appeal to “white suburban women” – a group that he hasn’t been able to count as on his side very often.
As such, Lake would make for a natural selection. She’s a prominent woman Republican – thanks to her time at Fox News and her campaign last year – and she’s seen as one of the most loyal people to Trump.
That being said, some have surmised that Lake may not be a smart choice, since she also claimed election fraud in her gubernatorial loss. Choosing her as the running mate could ostracize a lot of voters who don’t believe Trump’s claims about his own election.
Michael Reagan, the son of former President Ronald Reagan, said that choosing Lake for “the Ticket in 24 would be a guarantee win for [Democratic President Joe] Biden.”
Axios mentioned that Trump is considering three other women to be his running mate – Governors Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, and former South Carolina Governor and former ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley.
Haley might seem like an odd person to put on this list, since she announced her own bid for president. Yet, many people have said that she may be doing this to raise her own profile in hopes of eventually being named Trump’s running mate.
In fact, during the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, Haley posed for pictures as people chanted “We love Trump” in the background.
Sanders is in her first term as Arkansas governor, assuming office just in January of this year. She has direct ties to Trump, as she served as the press secretary of the Trump White House for two years – from 2017 to 2019.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the former president, told Axios recently that Trump hasn’t created a shortlist for his running mate just yet.