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Former President Donald Trump announced in November that he was making another run for the White House. The 45th president filed the formal paperwork and told a crowd at Mar-a-Lago that “America’s comeback starts right now.”
While Trump settled the issue of whether he would run again, new questions emerged about who he may choose as a running mate. Politico previously reported that according to an unnamed Trump adviser, the former president is likely to choose a running mate “from three general lanes of candidates: women, conservatives of color, or a trusted adviser.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is setting herself up to become Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, according to one of the former president’s one-time top advisers.
“War Room” podcast host Steve Bannon said in an interview this week with NBC News: “This is no shrinking violet, she’s ambitious — she’s not shy about that, nor should she be. … She sees herself on the shortlist for Trump’s VP.”
When Greene “looks in the mirror, she sees a potential president smiling back,” Bannon noted further.
NEWS: MTG wants to be Trump VP
“She sees herself on the short list,” Steve Bannon told NBC.
A second source who has advised her said her “whole vision” is to get on the ticket.
This explains the *why* of her oft-chronicled recent rebrand efforts.
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) January 25, 2023
NBC News noted further:
A second source who has advised Greene said her “whole vision is to be vice president.” The source, who has ties to Trump but spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said he also believes Greene would be on Trump’s short list.
That goal is at the heart of Greene’s recent efforts to rebrand herself as a politician who can stand astride the divide between the party’s hard-liners and its establishment wing, the sources told NBC News.
“She’s both strategic and disciplined — she made a power move, knowing it would run up hard against her most ardent crew,” Bannon added. “She was prepared to take the intense heat/hatred short-term for the long-term goal of being a player.”
NBC News noted further: “Her push for McCarthy alienated some of her allies in the House Freedom Caucus and like-minded conservative activists, but that was a calculated risk, according to Bannon. Trump has not publicly given any indication that he is seriously considering a vice-presidential pick at this early point in the process, and aides did not respond to NBC News’ inquiries about Greene’s chances of ending up on a Trump ticket.”
This isn’t the first time Greene’s name has been mentioned as a potential Trump running mate.
In October, New York Times Magazine writer Robert Draper appeared on MSNBC, saying that the firebrand Georgia Republican has told him that she may be on the ticket with Trump next year.
“To be fair, it’s very likely that Trump has had this conversation with half a dozen other people too,” he told host Ali Velshi, adding that Greene, however, may have something other GOP women don’t.
“What Greene possesses that Trump so craves is loyalty. She has always been there for Trump. She has always had his back and after his experience with his last running mate, Mike Pence, it’s clear that he’s going to prize loyalty above all else, so I wouldn’t count it out,” he said.
When Draper spoke to The Daily Beast’s “New Abnormal” podcast previously, he said “that Greene had risen quickly in her first term in Congress by using the same tactics she honed as a right-wing social media influencer harassing Democratic staffers, and she could shoot to the second-highest office in government,” Raw Story reported.
“Republicans kind of wanted to kick her to the curb immediately,” said Draper, per the outlet. “But instead, she became a fundraising dynamo, came to have this huge social media influence, and ultimately came to be very influential within the party itself.”
Draper went on to say that Trump has been seriously discussing Greene as a potential VP since February.
“[Trump] has every reason to expect that Greene would be by his side and would be his proximate warrior” through thick and thin, Draper noted further.
However, an ex-aide for Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that former President Donald Trump won’t pick Greene as his running mate.
Olivia Troye, a former Pence aide on the White House coronavirus task force, told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart that “unfortunately for [Greene], honestly, Donald Trump is a shallow human being.”
“And I don’t think she’s gonna meet the looks match for him,” Troye said. “I hate to say that to disparage another female, but we know how shallow this man is.”
