Trump VP List Drops — With One Dead Puppy-Sized Omission
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign appears to have finalized its list of potential vice presidential running mates. Still, one notable name is not on the list: South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Multiple news outlets reported Wednesday evening that the Trump campaign requested financial and biographical information on eight potential running mates as the start of a formal vetting process. The names included are not a surprise to anyone who has paid close attention to his surrogates quick to appear on Fox News to say very pro-Trump things during his falsifying records-hush money trial over which he was convicted on 34 counts.
In no particular order, the names reported include Senators J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and Tom Cotton, as well as Representatives Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik. Governor Doug Burgum and former Trump cabinet member Ben Carson are also on the list.
Noem was long considered a favorite to be included in this list of final candidates, but over the past month, the South Dakota Governor suffered several negative news cycles that focused on her bragging about killing a farm dog because it was “less than worthless.” She also claimed to have met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, which later proved to be untrue.
When the dog-killing controversy came to light, it reportedly hurt Noem’s chances of being Trump’s vice presidential running mate for the upcoming November election. Trump addressed it during a radio interview shortly after it broke.
“I think [Noem’s] terrific. A couple of rough stories, there’s no question about it,” Trump said during a podcast interview with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. “And when explained — the dog story, people hear that, and people from different parts of the country probably feel a bit differently, but that’s a tough story.”
“She had a bad week. We all have bad weeks,” the Republican nominee added.
It appears that the “bad weeks” were part of why Noem is not considered for the role of Trump’s vice president. Also missing from the list is Trump’s most prominent primary rival, former UN Ambassador (under Trump) Nikki Haley, which is not much of a surprise given how bitter their primary campaign became.
It is notable that Trump seems to be considering only one woman as his running mate, when an appeal to the elusive “Suburban Mom” voting block appears a critical component to winning the election in November.
