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Former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway provided some criteria for Donald Trump's potential vice president pick on Thursday.
"This time, it has to be someone that's not a distraction to him...it needs to be someone that doesn't just help Trump win, but helps him govern," Conway said while appearing on Fox News' Fox & Friends. "He can look at people ready on day one like [Mike] Pompeo, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio but I think pick a woman is limited because we beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, she was about to [be] the first female president in the United States."
"My advice is to pick a person of color," Conway added.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
The context
Trump remains the leading Republican candidate in the 2024 election, as polls have him currently ahead of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Trump also beat Haley in two primary elections, in Iowa and New Hampshire, this year.
Earlier this month, Conway published an op-ed in the New York Times discussing possible choices for Trump's vice president pick where she floated names like former Secretary of State Pompeo and Senators Cotton and Rubio. Conway also mentioned female options such as Representative Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Senator Marsha Blackburn.
"Taking all of this into consideration, if I were advising Mr. Trump, I would suggest he choose a person of color as his running mate, depending on vetting of all possibilities and satisfaction of procedural issues like dual residency in Florida," Conway wrote.
What we know
Trump has not officially announced a choice for his vice president pick and told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo that he doesn't plan to announce a choice for "a while."
"We have so many great people in the Republican Party, but not for a while," Trump said.
The former president also mentioned the names of Noem and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott as possible choices, saying "A lot of people like Tim Scott. I called him, and I said, 'You're a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself.'"
"Kristi Noem has been incredible fighting for me. She said, 'I'd never run against him because I can't beat him.' That was a very nice thing to say," Trump added.
Views
On Wednesday, former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was asked about being a possible choice for Trump's vice president, to which she responded by saying "I'd be open to that conversation."
"My mission in life is to serve our country and serve the American people and find the best way to be able to do that," Gabbard said on Fox & Friends.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk also floated some possible choices on social media including Tucker Carlson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Byron Donalds, Rand Paul and Noem.
What's next
Trump will have to hold his lead over Haley over the next several months in order to become the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump is currently facing several legal cases and on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments regarding efforts by a group of voters in Colorado to remove Trump from the state's ballot over allegations that he was involved in an insurrection on January 6 2020.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
Update, 2/8/24, 8:54 a.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information and to reflect that Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson for comment.
Update, 2/8/24, 9:22 a.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more