Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace did not appear to dismiss the possibility of being former President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate during a Thursday interview on Fox News.
Mace praised Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s performance on the debate stage and her qualifications to run for president. In response, host Neil Cavuto said Trump, who has floated the idea of choosing a female running mate, is unlikely to pick Haley.
“Alright, because Donald Trump, who I also mentioned is not a fan of [Haley], as he’s criticized her quite often, and I’m just wondering how you reconcile that with a very, maybe remote possibility you could be open to being his running mate,” Cavuto said.
“Well, if we want to win in ’24, we have to unite no matter who the nominee is. We have to come together as a party, and it’s not just Republicans that we have to win over,” Mace said. “We have to win over independents and centrists all over the country. We have to win over suburban moms, and I know this because of the district that I represent. We have — forty percent of our voters are independent voters. They don’t lean Republican or Democrat. They’re right in the middle.”
“And those are the folks that are going to be the majority makers,” she continued. “They’re gonna be the ones that also decide who the president is, and so I want to make sure that we expand our party and welcome home any of those independents and centrists that are not a fan of Joe Biden anymore, don’t want to vote for a Democrat nominee. I want to give them a reason to vote for our party and for our nominee next year.”
Trump said in September that he likes “the concept” of having a female running mate, but that he will choose “the best person” for the job. Haley, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik have all been considered as possible vice presidential candidates. (RELATED: ‘Didn’t She Vote To Send Me To Federal Prison?’: Steve Bannon Spars With Nancy Mace Over Contempt Vote)
The former president and Republican frontrunner has yet to publicly release a shortlist of potential VPs, but Trump insiders told the Daily Caller in April that he may consider someone like Stefanik due to her consistent support for him during his two impeachment proceedings and her status as the first member of GOP leadership to endorse him.
Mace said on Jan. 7, 2021, that Trump’s legacy had been “wiped out” due to the violence at the U.S. Capitol the previous day.
“Everything that he’s worked for … all of that — his entire legacy — was wiped out yesterday,” Mace said at the time. “We’ve got to start over. I’m distraught. We’ve got to rebuild our nation, and we’ve got to rebuild our party.”
Around the same time, Haley said Trump would be “judged harshly by history” for his claims about election fraud in the 2020 election.