Matt Gaetz Tells Donald Trump He Has a Women Problem

Florida Representative Matt Gaetz has said Donald Trump needs to pick a female running mate for his 2024 presidential campaign in order to get vital support from women voters, including those who do not like him.

Speaking to the right-wing podcast Timcast IRL with Tim Pool, Gaetz suggested that the reason Trump won the 2016 election was that he was still able to win votes from women who didn't like him because they "could not stand telling their daughters and granddaughters" that his Democratic challenger "Hillary Clinton was the first female president of the United States."

Gaetz said that in order for Trump to win over women voters who do not like him again in 2024, he needs to choose a female running mate, suggesting that his former press secretary turned Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, or South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem would be the best choices.

"What I've said to President Trump is you have to create a permission structure where women who do not like you, vote for you again," Gaetz said.

"And you see the grit of a Sarah Huckabee Sanders. You see the directness, the efficacy, she really [took] bold steps on her first days as governor, banning TikTok on a lot of government devices there. She's the kind of person I'm looking at.

"Kristi Noem also, I think would be a pretty stellar pick," the GOP representative said.

In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Sanders did not answer directly if she would even endorse Trump for the presidency in 2024, and instead said she is focusing on her role in Arkansas.

"I love the president, have a great relationship with him. I know our country would be infinitely better off if he was in office right now instead of Joe Biden but right now my focus isn't 2024," Sanders said.

"I'm not really focused on that at all, but focused on what we can do to impact change and deliver on the promises we made during the campaign season here in Arkansas," she said.

One person who Gaetz did not mention as a potential running mate for Trump was his longtime ally, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Despite only being in political office for three years, Greene has been touted as a potential running mate for Trump.

According to an October 2022 interview New York Times journalist Robert Draper gave to the Daily Beast, Trump had been discussing Greene as his potential vice president for several months as she has been "unflaggingly loyal" to him throughout her career.

However, Greene has since fallen out with a number of hardline and extreme members of the GOP over her support for Kevin McCarthy as new House speaker.

Gaetz had been one of several Republicans who refused to vote for McCarthy in more than a dozen House votes, with McCarthy only getting elected on the 15th try as six Republicans withheld their ballot, therefore lowering the threshold to 216.

Trump has been contacted for comment.