Former President Donald Trump is aiming for a “fighter” as his running mate in this year’s presidential election and regards factors such as gender or race as irrelevant, according to sources close to the former US president via The Guardian.
It has been noted that the conventional wisdom is used to hold that Trump was likely to choose a woman or a person of color as his potential vice-president to broaden his appeal. However, aides close to the presumptive Republican nominee currently say he will not take so-called identity politics into account.
Trump, who is still trying to make up his mind demands a candidate who is media-savvy and will fight for him on adversarial TV networks. “In short,” a Trump ally said, “he wants someone who is everything Mike Pence wasn’t.”
The former vice-president was a valuable asset during the 2016 and 2020 campaigns and the Christian conservative who shored up support among Republicans suspicious of the thrice-married reality TV star. However, Pence’s denying to comply with Trump’s demand to overturn the 2020 election led to a falling out and made Pence a target of the January 6 rioters.
Trump is seeking a “Goldilocks” running mate this time: strong but loyal, in tune with Maga but not over-rehearsed, telegenic but not likely to outshine him. His choice will go up against Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to serve as vice-president.
It is noted that his campaign does not regard having a Black candidate – such as Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina – as intrinsically helpful, preferring to reach voters of color through community outreach and policy plans. A source said the campaign hears from Black voters that identity politics matter less to them than the economy and community safety.
Jim McLaughlin, a former pollster for Trump, said: “It’s got to be somebody that he knows can be the president of the United States because – he hasn’t said this but other people are saying this – this could be a person that’s in the White House for the next 12 years, so he understands the importance of that.”
Speaking on a panel in Washington organised by polling firm JL Partners, McLaughlin added: “I think it’s also somebody who definitely believes in his agenda. I don’t think he’s going to go for somebody to have some sort of an ideological or necessarily political balance.
“He’s going to want an ‘America first’ Republican to be his nominee. I get calls a lot of times from candidates: ‘Can you help me with the Trump endorsement?’ My first question to them is: what kind of relationship do you have with him? Because loyalty is huge with him. It’s got to be somebody he is comfortable with as a person.”
