Trump names Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard on VP shortlist
By Carl Samson
Donald Trump is considering former GOP primary rival Vivek Ramaswamy and former Hawaii congressmember Tulsi Gabbard as candidates to be his vice-presidential running mate, calling them, among four others, “all good” and “all solid.”
Who’s in: Trump named his picks at a Fox News town hall event with host Laura Ingraham. When asked about six possible choices, he listed Ramaswamy and Gabbard, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — also former primary rivals — Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
“Honestly all of those people are good,” Trump, 77, told Ingraham. “They’re all good, they’re all solid.”
About Ramaswamy: Ramaswamy, 38, a billionaire biotech entrepreneur, dropped out of the GOP race on Jan. 15 after the Iowa caucuses, where he finished fourth after Trump, DeSantis and fellow Indian American candidate Nikki Haley. He has since endorsed Trump, proclaiming support for his “America First” agenda.
Sharing many of the former president’s policies, Ramaswamy had been referred to as “Trump 2.0” throughout his campaign. But he pointed out “small differences,” saying he would rescind affirmative action, militarize the southern border and shut down the Department of Education, among other federal agencies.
About Gabbard: Gabbard, 42, an American Samoan who represented Hawaii’s second congressional district from 2013 to 2021 as a Democrat, also ran for the White House in 2020, becoming the first female combat veteran to do so. She quit the race in March of that year and endorsed Joe Biden.
Gabbard, however, left the Democratic Party in October 2022 and accused its leadership of “cowardly wokeness,” “anti-white racism,” being “hostile to people of faith and spirituality” and “dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.” She subsequently joined Fox News as a paid contributor.
What’s next: It remains to be seen who Trump chooses to be his running mate, but he singled out Tim Scott on Tuesday night for aggressively supporting him ahead of South Carolina’s primary this weekend. His last remaining opponent, Haley, who served there as governor from 2011 to 2017, is refusing to bow out.
“I don’t care about a political future. If I did, I would have been out by now,” Haley, 52, told South Carolinian supporters on Thursday. “I’m doing this for my kids. I’m doing this for your kids and your grandkids.”
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