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Who Is Being Touted By Right-Wing Media As Trump's Running Mate?

Who Is Being Touted By Right-Wing Media As Trump's Running Mate?

As early as last summer, some of former President Donald Trump’s primary election competitors and other right-wing figures attracted a small amount of buzz as potential vice presidential picks, and now, with the Iowa caucuses approaching on January 15 -- another potential reminder of Trump’s presumed primary win -- the speculation begins anew.

Past rounds of the Trump veepstakes have floated some big names, like former Fox host Tucker Carlson, as well as known Trump acolytes like former local news anchor Kari Lake (who has since announced a U.S. Senate run instead). Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon even mentioned the conspiracy theorist and retired Gen. Mike Flynn as a possibility. The latest round is similarly combing the right-wing airwaves for known Trump allies who could fit the presumed mold.

Dr. Ben Carson

On January 3, Newsmax contributor Mercedes Schlapp told Newsmax host Eric Bolling that Trump should choose a “loyalist … someone who’s not worried about the 2028 election,” a clear shot at all of Trump’s 2024 competitors.

Schlapp suggested Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, or retired surgeon Dr. Ben Carson, prompting her fellow panelist Sebastian Gorka to scream over her, “Yes! No, no! You’re stealing my thunder!”

“Ben Carson. Ben Carson all the way,” Gorka added, “and he’s a loyalist and he’s a patriot.”

According to a November Newsweek article, hype around a potential Carson nomination began with an anonymous X account, which “claimed … that a source close to Trump said Carson—who was the only Black member of Trump's cabinet—is the leading frontrunner for his vice president.” Carson, a former Trump cabinet member and apparent 2024 campaign surrogate, did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.

Rep. Byron Donalds

Donalds, a second term U.S. representative, is a prominent Black Republican guest on right-wing media and has historically been a frequent subject of Trump VP speculation. Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk floated the possible candidacy while asking viewers to tell him their preferred Trump VP pick.

“I just love the idea of the Donalds,” he fantasized. “Donald Trump, Byron Donalds, two alpha males. Boom! It’d be great.” (Kirk also briefly mentioned Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.)

A Vice President Donalds was also floated by Gorka and Schlapp on Newsmax, prompting Bolling to ask the congressman about it in a subsequent interview. “Congressman, you are the man of the hour. You know, shortlist has you on almost every single shortlist.”

Rep. Donalds gave a fairly standard nonanswer; after saying that he and Trump have not discussed the possibility, he loyally added that he’s “just committed to making sure we get him back in the White House. However that looks, I’m all for it.” In November, Donalds said that he would be Trump’s running mate if he was invited to join the ticket.

Gov. Kristi Noem

Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, is another frequent subject of the 2024 Trump veepstakes, and on January 3, Bolling told his Donalds-cheering panelists, “You’re wrong. I just -- I know it's Kristi Noem. She was on the show last night.”

The interview with Noem -- who, like Donalds, also has a large national profile thanks to right-wing media -- did not shed much specific light on her VP odds. Bolling congratulated himself for being “one of the first people who said you would be the perfect one,” and said that Noem has “got it going on” for the position over Carson. “Any more words? You wanna break it here by chance?”

Like Donalds, Noem demurred, saying that Trump should “pick whoever will help him win” -- and that that person was not former Ambassador Nikki Haley, already a despised figure in Trumpworld. However, even if Trump picked Haley for vice president, Noem said she would still support the ticket because “he’s still the president, and the president still makes the decisions.” With that, Noem once again passed what is likely Trump’s most important qualification for a vice presidential nominee: loyalty.

Trump’s 2024 primary rivals

Conventional wisdom may suggest that the winner of a presidential primary would consider one of their defeated competitors. But Trump, a man obsessed with personal loyalty, may be unlikely to select anyone who attempted to snatch the GOP nomination from his grasp.

At a September rally, Trump suggested as much: “They’ll do anything: secretary of something, they even say VP,” he derisively said of the field. “Has anyone seen a VP in that group? I don’t think so.”

Trump’s rejection of the field is closely mirrored by pro-Trump media’s record of attacks against some of the primary candidates, notably including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Although the two were once politically close -- Trump’s 2018 endorsement carried DeSantis into the governor’s mansion in the first place -- they are now at bitter odds, ever since DeSantis first appeared to be challenging Trump for the nomination and media buzz (prominently including from Fox) suggested that the governor may actually beat him.

Trump media allies began calling DeSantis disloyal to the former president, as the Trump campaign aired humiliating ads about the governor’s purported personal habits.

Haley, who was also a Trump administration appointee, is another conventional possibility, though she is a non-starter for many of Trump’s closest media allies. Podcaster Steve Bannon has pushed a theory that the Republican establishment is trying to “force” Haley onto the ticket at the convention, to “allow her to try to run the administration from number two.”

Somewhat echoing Bannon, Donald Trump Jr. recently said that “I wouldn’t have her” as vice president, “and I would go to great lengths to make sure that doesn’t happen. … She’s a puppet of the establishment in Washington, D.C.”

A recent USA Today poll asked likely GOP voters for their preferred Trump vice presidential nominee. And although several of Trump’s primary competitors were named, the single biggest vote-getter, at 55%, was no answer, suggesting that voters “seem ready to leave the decision up to Trump.”

The same is likely true of right-wing media, an ecosystem thoroughly dominated by Trumpism for nearly a decade. Although there is some buzz about particular individuals, most of conservative media will embrace whomever Trump ultimately selects.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

U.S. Boy, 13, Plots World Chess Domination

U.S. Boy, 13, Plots World Chess Domination

Washington (AFP) – Samuel Sevian may only be 13, but the American chess prodigy is in a hurry.

He wants to become the youngest Grandmaster in the history of the United States. That honor currently goes to Ray Robson, who was crowned two weeks before his 15th birthday.

Samuel will be 15 in December next year and is just 14 points from becoming Grandmaster.

“I want to have this title,” he tells AFP on the eve of a tournament in Arlington, a suburb of Washington. And the longer he can hold the title the better.

But once he has that in the bag, he will chase his next dream: to be world champion.

If he sounds confident, he has good reason. In 2006, in his first tournament, he became the youngest U.S. Expert.

Then at nine years, 11 months and 23 days he broke another record when he was crowned youngest American Master. And at 12 years and 10 months, the youngest U.S. International Master.

The secret to his success? Practice. A lot of it.

He spends his mornings being schooled at home — he said no school would accept his tournament-dominated schedule — and then plays chess for up to six hours every afternoon.

Spending a single day without playing is unthinkable. And the thought of losing a match?

“Losing is worse than dying,” says the taciturn boy wonder, who moved his first chess piece at age five with his father Armen and was once a world champion in his age group.

“I fell in love with the game,” he adds.

Now when father and son play chess together the pieces are arranged to Armen’s advantage, otherwise Samuel wins too easily.

Armen Sevian, a scientist who was born and raised in Armenia and later moved to the United States, is understandably proud — but also worried.

A chess Master himself in his youth — before he decided to take up “other interests” — he is eager for his son not to become “a chess freak.”

“I’ve tried to steer him away to something else, pretty much anything else,” he says, explaining: “If you want to be at a high level, you can’t do anything else. It’s hours of work and dedication.”

But it is dedication that Samuel appears to relish, and his father admits that his son showed remarkable talent at a young age.

“At age eight, he played five games blindfolded at the same time,” he says.

“He won all of them.”

Armen credits the Kasparov Chess Foundation — legendary chess champion Garry Kasparov helps train Samuel online — for helping the boy realize his dream.

“The Garry Kasparov foundation is the only help we get, for trainings. It partially covers the expenses for the travels. It’s a great help,” he says.

International Master Greg Shahade admits the talent shown by youngsters like Samuel is frightening.

“Children are soaking up and taking in information at a faster rate than ever before,” he says.

“There is information out there on the Internet that’s fun and easy to read. There are tactics trainer programs that the top children are nearly obsessed with.”

Samuel, unlike many of his opponents, does not memorize moves from previous matches because it “is not necessary.”

Instead, he closely studies key positions of the game — opening, middle and closing moves — preferring a more tactical approach.

“You just have to remember the key positions, not the whole game,” he said.

He painstakingly studies books and chess computer programs, and as well as getting advice from Kasparov, and meets international Grandmaster Alexander Chernin every two or three months.

Photo: Nicholas Kamm via AFP

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