Election: Trump shortlists two Ind-Ams among the running mates for VP
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Donald Trump, who is taking another shot at the White House and bracing to challenge US President Joe Biden, 81, in the November 2024 presidential elections, has short-listed at least two Indian-Americans to be among his running mates for the office of the vice president, the media reported on Wednesday.
Indian-American biotech entrepreneur-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, is amongst those former US President and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is considering as his running mate for the 2024 presidential polls.
During a Fox News Town Hall event on Tuesday, when the host asked Trump about six possible choices for his vice-presidential shortlist, he rattled off the names of South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Representative Byron Donalds, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Trump, 77, did not name another Indian-American Nikky Haley, who is still in the Republican race seeking the nomination, and whom he had, as the US President, sent to the United Nations as his country’s ambassador (2017-18).
Haley, 52, has refused to quit and vowed to stay in the party’s race to the White House even after the South Carolina primary this weekend, where her intra-party rival Trump is leading far ahead of her. The former governor of South Carolina is reportedly facing a tough race on her home turf itself.
Incidentally, after his poor showing in the Iowa caucuses in mid-January, Ramaswamy had not just backed out as a Republican presidential hopeful but also ended up supporting its winner Trump. Earlier, in August 2023, Ramaswamy had hinted at being Trump’s running mate if he did not win the Republican nomination.
When the Fox News Town Hall event host Laura Ingraham asked him, “Are they all on your shortlist?” Trump asserted: “They are. Honestly, all of those people are good. They’re all good, they’re all solid.”
“Trump and DeSantis spent a year savaging each other before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race following a disappointing second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. DeSantis, however, has since endorsed Trump, who has also stopped attacking the governor and has retired the “DeSanctimonious” nickname he had given him,” the report said.
However, during the Town Hall, Trump singled out Scott, who was in the audience for most praise as it said, “Tim Scott, he has been much better for me than he was for himself. I watched his campaign, and he doesn’t like talking about himself. But boy does he talk about Trump. … I called him and I said, ‘Tim, you’re better for me than you were for yourself.”
