Former President Donald Trump is strongly considering a woman to be his 2024 running mate and views Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake as the model for a potential vice president, according to a report.
Trump, 76, who launched his third White House bid Nov. 15, sees Lake as someone who could help him shore up the necessary support among suburban women to defeat President Biden, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing people who talked with Trump about his plans.
More importantly, Lake – who continues to argue her election fraud case in court against Democrat Katie Hobbs does seem to meet Trump’s main criteria as a tenacious defender of the 45th president, the report said.
But Lake, 53, also comes with a downside separate from her most recent election loss, the former president’s allies told Axios.
Trump doesn’t want a running mate who will outshine him on the campaign trail, and Lake, who traveled to Iowa last month, would be assumed to be preparing for her own presidential run as soon as she walks into the White House.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend, Trump ran away from other GOP candidates in a 2024 presidential straw poll — and Lake won the vice presidential survey, beating out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A spokesman for Trump called the Axios report speculation.
“Anyone who thinks they know what President Trump is going to do is seriously misinformed and trying to curry favor with ‘potential’ VP candidates,” Steven Cheung said.
“President Trump will choose his running mate on his own time, and those who are playing the media game are doing so at their own peril,” he said.
Along with Lake, Trump is also considering former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — currently challenging him for the GOP nomination — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for his ticket.
