According to an Axios report, Melania Trump is encouraging Donald Trump to choose former Fox News host Tucker Carlson as his running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
“She thinks Carlson would make a powerful onstage extension of her husband, a source close to Trump told us. The former first lady has made few campaign appearances this time around — but a Trump-Carlson ticket might encourage her to hit the trail,” Axios reports.
When previously asked about having Carlson as his vice president, Trump said: “I like Tucker a lot.”
“He’s got great common sense,” Trump added.
REPORT: Melania Trump is pushing for Tucker Carlson to be Donald Trump’s VP pick for the 2024 election according to Axios.
Trump – Tucker has a nice ring to it 🔥
According to a source who spoke with the news outlet, Melania Trump believes Tucker is the best VP option and would… pic.twitter.com/hyJwTDx5TJ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 7, 2023
“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. And Trump’s staff is convinced (correctly) that Carlson can’t be controlled. But the two men talk a lot,” the outlet continued.
Axios noted other names reportedly in the running for Trump’s VP pick:
Trump talks openly to friends about several possibilities for running mate. Table stakes for these candidates is proving you believe the 2020 election was stolen and that former Vice President Mike Pence wimped out by allowing its certification.
Those who’d be considered include J.D. Vance, the “Hillbilly Elegy” author and a MAGA favorite; Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders; Kari Lake, a leading election denier now running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. (Vance might prefer to remain in the Senate as “Trump’s hammer,” we’re told.)
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), one of the few Black Republicans in Congress, has traveled with Trump on the campaign and would love to be V.P. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who lost her House committee assignments because she pushed baseless conspiracy theories, also gets mentioned.
JUST IN – Melania Trump said she thinks Tucker Carlson would make the best choice as Trump’s VP.
Do you agree with Melania?
YES or NO? pic.twitter.com/TNANbsNRvR
— The Trump Train 🚂🇺🇸 (@The_Trump_Train) December 7, 2023
Many people speculated Tucker Carlson may be among the VP frontrunners when he entered Madison Square Garden with Donald Trump at UFC 295.
WATCH: Trump Drops Hint On Next Vice President – “He’s Got Great Common Sense”
Political correspondent Maggie Haberman said there is substance to the rumors of Tucker Carlson possibly being Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
The New York Post reports that a Trump campaign aide said the story from Axios is “pure fiction.”
From the New York Post:
A Trump campaign aide told The Post that Trump isn’t looking past the GOP primary elections and denied Axios’ report.
“The Axios story is pure fiction,” the aide said. “Unless there is a formal announcement from President Trump or his campaign team, then it’s just speculation and not coming from us. President Trump is solely focused on winning the Republican nomination and then defeating Crooked Joe Biden in the general election.”
The report further claimed that former Trump administration officials Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, John McEntee, Jeffrey Clark (one of Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia 2020 election interference case), Ric Grenell, John Ratcliffe and Jared Kushner are also in the mix to fill out key White House roles and cabinet posts.
“That list may never come true, but it’s a type of person that fully understands President Trump’s policies … that understands President Trump’s resolve and direction,” Bannon, who briefly served as Trump’s chief strategist in the White House, said of the Axios report.
“There’s no middle ground. It’s either us or them, but one side is going to win and one side is going to lose. No compromise,” he added, arguing in support of Trump filling his potential second-term administration with people who believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen.