Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) said this week that she would be willing to serve as the running mate to former President Donald Trump. The statement came as Trump appears to be whittling down his potential shortlist for the position.
Gabbard said in a recent interview that if she was called by Trump “I would say yes, and I’d be honored to serve my country in that way and to be in a position, first, to help win this election, to stop the Democratic elite from destroying our country and then actually begin the real work of getting our country back on track.”
“And that starts with having people of courage in our government who care more about the country than they do about the political elite in Washington,” she said.
The former Hawaii representative ran for the White House as a Democrat in 2020. She also was a key booster of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016, resigning from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in order to do so.
Title IX changed everything for women and girls in sports for over fifty years.
Today's Democrat elite have destroyed Title IX by forcing women to compete against biological men, and threatening to withhold federal funding from any school that refuses to comply with this… https://t.co/96JuWhcO8W
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) April 30, 2024
One person who is clearly off the list is former Vice President Mike Pence. Pence announced earlier this year that he would not be supporting Trump in November.
Furthermore, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) appeared to remove herself from contention after the publication of a political memoir. The governor, who has been close to the former president, wrote that she once had to down a young dog due to behavioral issues.
The statement received considerable negative attention, including from many Republicans.
However, Trump appears to be considering North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R). Burgum ran a brief presidential campaign last year before dropping out. Burnum is popular in his home state and endorsed Trump after his own candidacy.
Trump appears to respect the North Dakota governor, saying in January that he could serve in a potential Trump administration.
“What people don’t know is that he actually supported me on the other side twice already. Right?” said the former president.
“That he decided to do it and he was outstanding. But the traction is never easy, right? You need controversy for traction sometimes,” added Trump.
“And this guy is the most solid guy. There’s no controversy whatsoever. And he’s one of the best governors in our country,” the former president said.
“And I hope that I’m going to be able to call on him to be a piece of the administration, a very important piece of the administration,” Trump added.
The former president may also be considering Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.