Former President Donald Trump is reportedly considering Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as his running mate in the 2024 election.
According to sources close to Trump, Stefanik fits the profile of characteristics the ex-president’s team will be looking for in a vice president.
The 38-year-old House Republican has supported Trump throughout his impeachment proceedings and indictment, and she was the first member of the GOP leadership to support Trump’s campaign for president.
I stand with President Trump.
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) April 4, 2023
Her dedication might influence Trump to select her based on loyalty, which the former president’s allies say is the most desirable attribute in a vice president.
“Loyalty. That’s the necessary characteristic of anyone who wants to be VP. President Trump and the movement was dragged down by disloyalty in the White House,” the source told The Daily Caller.
Mike Caputo, a longtime friend and adviser to Trump, expressed his support for Stefanik, saying that she is “young, dynamic, really bright and engaging.”
“I see no better fit than Elise Stefanik, but the president will take his own counsel,” Caputo said. “She absolutely has more, let’s just call it ‘testicular fortitude’ than most men in the Republican Party. She’s got more balls than any other candidate that might be considered for vice president.”
“She’s one of the most convincing surrogates [for Trump] out of all of them. In some ways, Elise Stefanik, because of her distance from the problems of the past of Donald Trump, will be able to make a case for Donald Trump better than the candidate himself,” he added, noting that Stefanik’s New York representation could sway Pennsylvania voters.
As the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at the time, Stefanik came into office in 2015 at the age of 30. She now serves on the Armed Services Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. In 2021, she was elected chair of the House Republican Conference.
The New York Republican has been hesitant herself regarding her goals for 2024. Despite stressing that she doesn’t “know what’s going to happen in the future,” she has said that her main priorities are to elect Republicans to both chambers of Congress and to the presidency.
