Donald Trump Could Be Making Huge Running Mate Blunder

Former President Donald Trump could be making a mistake if he doesn’t select a female running mate like former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for the November presidential election, experts told Newsweek.Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is yet to publicly announce his choice for running mate, but speculation has increased over the last few weeks and months about who it could be.It was previously suggested that he might choose a female candidate, with Haley as well as New York Representative Elise Stefanik emerging as two potential picks.However, according to the website oddschecker, as of Thursday, the five most likely candidates in order of likeliness for the role are male—South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ben Carson, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021.Experts told Newsweek that diverting from a female candidate may be an error.Thomas Whalen, an associate professor who teaches U.S. politics at Boston University, said Trump should choose former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the presidential race in March.”Let’s put it this way, Trump would be a complete fool if he doesn’t pick Nikki Haley,” he said. “He is hemorrhaging female voters given his draconian stance on abortion and extraordinary personal misogynic behavior over the years [hello Access Hollywood] and he has a problem with old-school GOP moderates [yes, they still exist!]. The former U.N. ambassador would help him shore up political support in both areas. Heck, she still drawing 20 percent of Republican voters in the primaries!”The thing is Trump probably won’t pick her because it’s gotten personal with him. He didn’t appreciate her earlier spot-on criticism of him. In 1960, JFK [John F. Kennedy] didn’t appreciate the attacks of LBJ [Lyndon B. Johnson] either and he still picked him as his running mate anyway. That decision resulted in victory. Trump’s refusal to select Haley will probably cost him another term in the White House.”A spokesperson for Trump responded to Whalen’s comments.”Never heard of this guy before,” he told Newsweek by email. “He must not be very important.”Polls show that the proportion of women who plan to vote for Trump in November is less than the proportion who voted for him in 2020. Meanwhile, some Republicans have voted for Haley in ongoing Republican primaries in protest against Trump.Thomas Gift, founding director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London, U.K., said Haley would provide balance but Trump is unlikely to pick her because she has in the past spoken out against him.”Trump certainly needs a running mate who can balance out the ticket—ideologically and demographically,” he told Newsweek. “Haley would fit that bill, but Trump’s number one criteria for a VP seems to be finding an individual who pays absolute fealty to him. That’s not Haley, who’s accused him of being ‘toxic’ and lacking in ‘moral clarity,’ among other pointed critiques.”American voters have a short memory, and these kinds of criticisms tend to get glossed over, but that still would be quite a walk-back for Haley to make. Combined with the fact that there’s no shortage of viable Republicans on the bench who are vying for Trump’s affection, the odds of him selecting Haley seem slim.”Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., similarly suggested that Trump will choose a VP pick who won’t “outshine him.””Trump’s VP pick will be all about Trump, so it’s highly unlikely he’ll go for Nikki Haley,” he told Newsweek. “[Mike] Pence was the perfect veep for Trump right up to January 6, 2021. He stole none of the limelight and took many of the bullets for the 45th president. He was relatively competent and never a threat.”Trump has a long history of surrounding himself with sycophants and underlings. There would be nothing worse for him than picking a running mate who could potentially outshine him. While he may pick a woman to bring some outward balance to the ticket, it will be one who sings from his hymn sheet, not a political player who could steal some of his stardust.”Presidential candidates typically announce their choice of running mates in the days and weeks leading up to the party conventions. The Republican National Convention is scheduled for July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.