'Betting Favorite' Emerges in Trump VP Sweepstakes

GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik is seen as the leading contender
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 29, 2024 10:45 AM CST
'Betting Favorite' Emerges in Trump VP Sweepstakes
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, and former President Trump listen as former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-NY, speaks at a campaign event in Concord, NH, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Nikki Haley appears to be planning for a long primary campaign, with more than 10 fundraisers planned in the next two weeks, reports Axios. But former President Donald Trump's two early victories and his big lead in the polls already has plenty of stories circulating about his potential running mate, and most of them center on GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.

  • The favorite? The Hill sees the No. 4 House Republican as the "betting favorite" at the moment. Stefanik has become one of the former president's biggest public supporters and has made clear she would love the position. She even withdrew her endorsement of a GOP House candidate in Ohio earlier this month after he criticized Trump.

  • Tim Scott: The Messenger reports that another top VP candidate, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, has been "floating opposition research" on Stefanik, a sign of her status as a leading contender. Scott's camp denies it. But "everyone in Trump world knows that Tim Scott's team is pitching oppo on Elise Stefanik," one Trump ally tells the outlet. "It's a bad look and he should condemn it."
  • Cheney feud: Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney tweeted last week that Stefanik once condemned the Jan. 6 riot but has since "morphed into a crackpot." She pointed out that Stefanik—who now refers to the "Jan. 6 hostages," echoing Trump—has scrubbed her website of her original statement condemning the storming of the Capitol. Stefanik responded that Cheney was having a "mental breakdown." The nastiness "exposed how raw and angry the wounds of Jan. 6 remain within the Republican Party," per Politico.
  • One factor: An analysis by Dean Obeidallah at CNN predicts Trump will value one trait above all others: loyalty. That's why Stefanik is seen as being at the top of the short list, but Obeidallah also thinks Scott and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake are in the mix.
  • Not him: After a report in the New York Post suggested Trump was considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a running mate, the Trump campaign shot down the speculation. "NO ONE from the Trump Campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will)," tweeted senior adviser Chris LaCivita, who referred to Kennedy as a "radical" environmentalist, per USA Today.
(More Elise Stefanik stories.)

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