***UPDATED***
The 2024 Republican primary is over. Donald Trump will be the nominee, so all attention turns to his running mate. Who will it be? Earlier this month, Trump heavily insinuated that he’d already made his decision but will reveal it later. Like The Apprentice, it’s all about the show, but there are some concerns that he might pick Nikki Haley, who still hasn’t dropped out of her quixotic campaign for the Republican nomination. Trump seems to have ruled her out, calling her a person not made of “presidential timber.”
The media has their list, including Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, Elise Stefanik, Kari Lake, Kristi Noem, and Ron DeSantis. Stefanik is someone who Trump views as a “killer” and whose loyalty has not gone unnoticed by the former president. We’ll see who it is, but one name out of left field was reportedly approached early on and didn't "write it off”: RFK Jr. (via NY Post):
REPORT: A Trump and RFK Jr. 2024 ticket could be a possibility after a new report claims the Trump Team reached out to RFK about serving as VP
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 27, 2024
Wow.
"Trump operatives expressed an interest in Kennedy early on, but it was all premature," a source said.
The pair recently agreed… pic.twitter.com/xCDyuVxYCz
People close to former President Trump made preliminary overtures to Robert F. Kennedy about the possibility of serving as his running mate, The Post has learned.
“Trump operatives expressed an interest in Kennedy early on, but it was all premature,” said one person familiar with the matter, adding that it was “right out of the box when Bobby announced” in April 2023 he was running for president.
“Anything’s possible. I wouldn’t write it off by any means,” the insider continued.
Kennedy, 70, who initially was running as a Democrat but is now an independent, wasn’t interested and has continued to shoot down speculation that he would ever take a job as Trump’s veep.
[…]
…Steve Bannon, a former chief White House strategist for Trump, who remains close to the former president, has also pushed the idea and said in August that a Trump-Kennedy ticket would produce a “massive landslide.”
We don’t necessarily need RFK Jr. to clinch a “landslide” win in 2024. Biden’s increasing decrepitude, the continued economic torpor, and all core Democratic Party constituencies souring on this guy could have already produced that result. The president was reportedly begging Israel like a dog to scale down their operation in Gaza because it was hurting his election chances, specifically with younger voters. Biden also must deal with a Rust Belt Muslim voter rebellion, folks who will stay home in Michigan and Minnesota especially. This week, the United Auto Workers union president admitted that “a great majority” of his rank-and-file members will not vote for Joe Biden.
Trump’s unpopularity has been neutralized by the Biden and the Democrats’ abysmal domestic and foreign policy, coupled with economic regression and high inflation. No matter who is on the ballot, most Americans will vote with their checkbooks, which were much healthier under Donald Trump.
Nevertheless, Trump-Kennedy would be interesting; I'm not saying I support it, but it’s amusing. The liberal media reaction would be epic, though—their minds would explode…again.
Chris Cuomo asks Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if he could function like a Ross Perot and help Trump win and Biden lose.
— Ellie A (@EllieGAnders) January 27, 2024
"I don't think President Biden needs my help to lose..." RFKJR#Kennedy24 #RFKJr pic.twitter.com/eVxJm5VEQl
UPDATE: Well, this interesting development might not be in the works. It might never have been in the cards, as Trump's advisers say RFK Jr. was never a serious candidate for VP (via NY Post):
This is 100% FAKE NEWS - NO ONE from the Trump Campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will) - one of the most LIBERAL and radical environmentalists in the country. For all the fake news- update your stories. https://t.co/HYBJLqSux0
— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) January 28, 2024
Senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita refuted that the campaign had ever reached out to Kennedy and closed the door on doing so in the future to be VP.
“This is 100% FAKE NEWS – NO ONE from the Trump Campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will) – one of the most LIBERAL and radical environmentalists in the country. For all the fake news- update your stories,” LaCivita posed on X Saturday.
Earlier that day, The Post reported that individuals close to Trump had reached out to Kennedy, who is now running as an independent candidate for president.
“Trump operatives expressed an interest in Kennedy early on, but it was all premature,” one person familiar with the matter, told The Post, stressing it was “right out of the box when Bobby announced.”
I wish I could say with certainty that it's better this way regarding Kennedy staying in the race as a third-party spoiler. Still, I could see Kennedy siphoning off support from Trump supporters and Democrats, but it's too early to get agita over that aspect of the race. First, we must get past Nikki Haley, who thinks she can still win the nomination.
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