Melania Is Pushing Hard for Tucker Carlson to Get a Major Role in Trump Administration: Report
With former President Donald Trump continuing to look like a shoe-in for the Republican presidential nomination next year, speculation has run rampant regarding whom he might choose as a running mate.
According to an exclusive report from Axios — an admittedly left-leaning outlet that certainly didn’t present the former president in a flattering light — one of the front-runners for the role is a name that will surprise many.
Axios cited an unnamed — and therefore unverifiable — source as saying that former first lady Melania Trump has been pushing her husband to select former Fox News star Tucker Carlson as his number two.
“[H]ere’s an interesting twist: Melania Trump is an advocate for picking Tucker Carlson, the booted Fox News star,” Axios CEO Jim VandeHei and co-founder Mike Allen wrote in their “Behind the Curtain” column Thursday, this one titled, “Exclusive: How Trump would build his loyalty-first Cabinet.”
“She thinks Carlson would make a powerful onstage extension of her husband, a source close to Trump told us,” the pair wrote. “The former first lady has made few campaign appearances this time around — but a Trump-Carlson ticket might encourage her to hit the trail.”
The column quickly noted that “many people close to Trump” didn’t think that would ever actually happen, however.
“The idea of Tucker Carlson has been discounted by many people close to Trump because they assume he’d never pick someone who could outshine him,” it said. “And Trump’s staff is convinced (correctly) that Carlson can’t be controlled. But the two men talk a lot.”
Axios also noted that, asked about the possibility of Carlson as a running mate, Trump said, “I like Tucker a lot. … He’s got great common sense.”
I’m not sure that qualifies as a ringing endorsement, but it’s hardly a “no.”
Others mentioned as being in the hunt for the VP role were Rep. Byron Donalds, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, current senatorial candidate Kari Lake, Gov. Kristi Noem, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Sen. J.D. Vance.
Florida’s Donalds is black and relatively young at 45, which would obviously bring some diversity to the ticket, and “would love to be V.P.,” according to Axios. He could also pull in additional votes in the sure-to-be-contested state of Florida, which Trump won in 2020 by about 3 points.
Georgia’s Greene told The Guardian in August that she was “on a list” of vice presidential possibilities then. She was said to be considering a Senate run as well, but holding off on a decision at the time until she heard more from the Trump camp.
Kari Lake, who lost Arizona’s gubernatorial election in 2022 and is seeking a Senate seat next year, would probably have not launched a Senate campaign unless she didn’t consider herself in the running for vice president — or if she didn’t plan to accept the role if asked.
Noem, South Dakota’s governor, told Fox in August, “Of course, I would consider it,” if asked to run with Trump.
“Our country is breaking right in front of our very eyes today, and everybody should be a part of putting it back on its foundation,” she said at the time. “And if President Trump is going to be back in the White House, I’d do all I can to help him be successful.”
Arkansas’ Sanders would also seem a natural choice, the only one on Axios’ list who has actually served in a Trump administration previously.
And Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” who successfully ran for Senate in Ohio in 2022, “might prefer to remain in the Senate as ‘Trump’s Hammer,'” Axios said.
Of course, it’s not uncommon for a presidential nominee to choose one of his former primary opponents as his running mate, though some question whether Trump’s focus on loyalty would permit him to partner with someone who once ran against him.
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