Former speaker Kevin McCarthy recommended in a Wednesday interview that Donald Trump select Nikki Haley as his running mate, given that she appeals to a wing of the party that remains hostile to the former president.
Asked at the New York Times DealBook Summit who would be the “right person” to serve as Trump’s vice president should he win reelection in 2024, McCarthy chose Haley over three other options presented by the Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin: Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.), Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy, and Senator Tim Scott (R., S.C.).
“If I was a political person, and I was going to advise somebody, you’re going to pick the vice president that’s about addition, not subtraction. So you’re not going to pick somebody that already equates to you,” McCarthy said at the event. “Now if I was picking for purely political decisions, what it looks like today is the anti-Trump vote is going to Nikki Haley.”
The California congressman, who was ousted from the House speakership in early October, argued that Trump needs to pick a running mate who can win over Republican and independent voters who do not support him for a second term. “If that person is with you, maybe they’d be with you too,” he said.
This is why Haley would be the perfect choice, according to McCarthy. “Well, right now I think it would be Nikki Haley, in my view,” he responded when asked who that person would be. “But the question is: Who you select, will they serve? So that’s another question you have to have. And it’s about addition.”
“It’s up to Nikki,” McCarthy added when asked whether Haley would agree to serve as Trump’s vice president if her own bid for the presidency falls through. “But this is a bigger question for Trump: If his campaign is about renew, rebuild and restore, he’ll win. If it’s about revenge, he’ll lose. The only person that’s going to determine that is — not his campaign ad — is him.”
While an avid Trump proponent, McCarthy has not yet endorsed the former president for reelection amid the ongoing primary campaign. However, he still believes Trump will win the Republican nomination and the White House next year, according to a separate interview he gave last month.
While she is a long way from exceeding Trump in the national polls, Haley has gained momentum in recent months, to the detriment of Florida governor Ron DeSantis whose support is sliding in some states. According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, Haley is ahead of DeSantis by 11 and 8 points in New Hampshire and South Carolina, respectively. However, DeSantis still holds second place nationally.
Haley has also racked up major presidential endorsements, the latest coming from the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity Action, which had chosen her as the top alternative to Trump in the 2024 race on Tuesday. The network said it is “proud to be throwing the full weight and scope of its grassroots operation” behind Haley and pledged to provide her additional resources, starting with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign that launched in several states this week.