Former president Donald Trump’s nomination as the GOP presidential candidate for 2024 now appears to be a matter of when, not if. Over the past few days, the presidential race has cleared. Florida governor Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump, and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley lost to him decisively in New Hampshire, though she has vowed to continue campaigning.
Now, much of the discussion about Trump’s campaign has switched to who the former president will pick as his running mate.
Trump himself has indicated that he has already made up his mind about his vice president pick, telling Fox News earlier this month that he already knew whom it would be.
On Sunday, speaking again to Fox News, Trump said there was “no rush” in announcing his pick, adding that vice presidential candidates in the past never had a material impact on the outcome of the election.
But for Trump’s most fervent supporters, who populate mainstream social media platforms like X as well as fringe sites like Telegram, Gab, Truth Social, and pro-Trump message boards like The Donald, divisive discussions over who Trump should or should not pick as his running mate are ramping up.
Many of these arguments are laced with racism, misogyny, and antisemitism, and some left-field candidates like actor turned QAnon promoter Rosanne Barr and bankrupt school shooting conspiracist Alex Jones have been introduced. But there are a couple of contenders that seem possible, or even probable, that are continually mentioned.
Here are the eight candidates being talked about most by Trump’s far-right, conspiracy-minded supporters online:
A relative newcomer to discussions about VP, Carlson’s potential candidacy was given a huge boost when Donald Trump Jr. told Newsmax's Wake Up America last week that his father and the former Fox News presenter “are very friendly, I think they agree on virtually all of these things. I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender.”
Carlson was also given the tick of approval from fellow right-wing media figure Charlie Kirk, who placed the talk show host at the top of a list of potential VP candidates.
Since leaving Fox News and starting his own streaming service, Carlson has increasingly embraced the far-right and extremist elements of the GOP, including boosting 9/11 conspiracies in an interview with Alex Jones and interviewing a convicted con man who baselessly claimed to have taken drugs and had sex with former president Barack Obama. Last week, Carlson interviewed far-right Twitter personality Phillip Buchanan, better known as Catturd.
The idea of a Trump-Carlson ticket was met very positively by those on the pro-Trump message board known as The Donald, a site that is home to violent extremist threats and whose members helped organize the January 6 Capitol riot:
“Trump’s ultra MAGA and he needs someone who can or is the same energy,” one member wrote last week. “F this picking a woman or vivek BS for pandering points. Tucker would be a good pic.”
On Trump’s own Truth Social, many were excited about the possibility of a Carlson nomination.
“He's smarter than 99% of Congress,” commented one poster.
“That would be a solid ticket.. two non-politicians who hate the deep state,” another wrote.
The New York representative was described by Trump in December as “a killer” after her viral questioning of three Ivy League college presidents over antisemitism on campus. Since that incident, Elise Stefanik has been promoted heavily by pro-Trump media and Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon on his War Room podcast.
Stefanik joined Trump on stage over the weekend in New Hampshire and was greeted with chants of “VP, VP, VP!” by the crowd.
But on the pro-Trump message board known as The Donald, Trump’s most fervent supporters are not impressed.
“Nope,” one wrote over a link to an article saying Trump was considering Stefanik as his running mate. “A hard no,” another wrote.
Comments quickly descended into misogyny, racism, and antisemitism.
“Nope, no females—too susceptible to coercion, manipulation, bribery and group think,” a member of The Donald wrote. ”We need another pair of big brass balls in the VP position, no more weak Judas Pence's.”
“No women, no blacks!” another wrote, before someone else added: “And no fucking jews.”
Kari Lake, a former TV star turned election conspiracist, has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters since losing her own election for governor in Arizona in 2022. She has also continued to claim, without evidence, 2020 and 2022 election fraud.
Lake is now running for US Senate in Arizona and, when asked about being vice president, recently told GB News: “I want to help [Trump] in the Senate. I really think that he's going to need help in the Senate.” However, she has also been promoting her own candidacy for the job, posting images of herself on Truth Social alongside Trump following his Iowa caucus victory in what some on the platform described as a 2024 election poster.
Trump’s staunchest supporters appear to be all for it.
“This is a mandate from the people, So Donald Trump should choose the VP best for America. That's Kari Lake,” QAnon influencer Pepe Deluxe wrote on their Telegram channel that has over 60,000 followers.
“I think she's as close to a female Trump that we'll get,” one member on The Donald wrote. “She don't put up with bullshit and she'll call out the fraud.”
Lake has endeared herself to the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, and in particular to Steve Bannon, who has called Lake “the future” of the party (in return, Lake has called Bannon a “stud muffin”).
Almost as soon as entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announced he was ending his campaign for the GOP nomination, online chatter turned to his potential as a vice presidential candidate. This was amplified last week when he appeared alongside Trump in New Hampshire and, like Stefanik, the crowd began chanting “VP, VP, VP.” Over the past few months, Ramaswamy has upped his far-right bonafides by openly embracing right-wing conspiracies—including the great replacement theory, which was widely celebrated by the white supremacist community online.
But on MAGA forums and fringe social media sites, Ramaswamy’s possible candidacy is a polarizing topic.
While a new poll from the Daily Mail places Ramaswamy as the leading VP contender, many of Trump’s most ardent supporters online have major concerns about him, primarily based on racist and conspiratorial beliefs.
“Why is anyone even considering Vivek an option for anything? He's a [World Economic Forum] stooge like that old hag Nikki,” one member of The Donald wrote last week.
“I’m just going to be blunt… a VP is first in line to the presidency.. and Although he is an American born citizen, he just looks too foreign,” MJ Truth, the QAnon promoter wrote.
Another QAnon booster, John Sabal (known as QAnon John), also took issue: “Vivek has a very questionable background, and although he says a lot of the ‘right things’ and has recanted on a lot of things, he still came out of nowhere and is clearly trying to kiss Trump’s ass to work his way into the Admin. That is OBVIOUS, and a huge red flag to me.”
Michael Flynn, the disgraced former national security adviser who was fired and subsequently pardoned by Trump, has claimed he was asked to run on Trump’s ticket in 2016 and was on a list of just four contenders that included Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich, and Chris Christie. And while speaking onstage recently at a conference, Flynn said he would find it very hard to say no if he was asked again.
Since 2020, Flynn has spearheaded the election denial movement, criss-crossing the country to spread conspiracies about voter fraud. And while he has publicly dismissed the QAnon movement, Flynn remains a hugely popular figure in the community, and many of them believe he is set to play a major role in a second Trump presidency.
“Throughout history America has always, somehow, ended up having a General as President after a period of turmoil,” a QAnon promoter on Telegram wrote earlier this month. “Why did Q ask Flynn if he was ready to serve again? Why did Trump tell Flynn to stay healthy and ready last summer?”
On The Donald, users agree Flynn could be a good VP pick, but believe Trump may have other plans for the former general, such as heading up the Department of Justice, the FBI, or the CIA.
Ben Carson, the former head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during Trump’s presidency, has also been discussed as a possible choice by Trump supporters online. Kirk placed him second on his list of potential VP candidates and Donald Trump Jr. also confirmed Carson was a possible contender, calling him “steadfast and loyal” during his interview with Newsmax.
Many commentators online focused on race.
“Not to beat around the bush, he’s Black… which sadly in today’s politics matters and will score political points for a BIG category of voters,” MJ Truth, a prominent QAnon influencer wrote on Telegram. “But make no mistake, Ben Carson would not be a ‘DEI hire’ by any stretch of the imagination. Ben is highly intelligent, and very well respected across party isles.”
Trump Jr. did say that Carson may be “too nice for politics,” a trait that other Trump supporters have also flagged. “Nah we need someone who makes them more afraid, like an Alex Jones,” one member of The Donald wrote earlier this month.
“I like Ben Carson, but I don't see that he's got the huevos to go against the allied forces marshaled against Trump,” another wrote. “I don't see Ben Carson withstanding that kind of onslaught. I just don't.”
Though Bannon has said that he thinks Trump should pick a woman for the ticket, he has also promoted Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist running for president as an independent.
Kennedy has spent years promoting and boosting a wild variety of conspiracies. He has claimed Covid-19 was designed to target certain races, mass shootings are linked to prescription drugs, and that the CIA was involved in the assassination of his uncle, former president John F. Kennedy.
Jacob Creech, a conspiracy peddler who first pushed the Ukraine biolabs conspiracy in 2022, also highlighted Kennedy alongside Ramaswamy and Lake as his potential vice president picks.
“All 3 take absolutely zero shit from establishment hacks, and have proven they are dedicated to, and capable of, combating and uprooting corruption,” Creech said, adding that Kennedy is the standout candidate for one reason: his ability to bring down the deep state.
“His skillset and his wisdom would be an invaluable asset in destroying the Deep State,” Creech wrote to his 133,000 Telegram followers. “And most importantly, we know he is dedicated to the mission, because they literally murdered his uncle and his father.”
On The Donald, the possibility of Trump picking a Democrat as his running mate was very enticing to some. “Trump with a Dem VP would blow normies fucking minds,” one user wrote.
But others on the same platform are worried that Kennedy becoming VP could be a plan hatched by Trump’s enemies in the deep state.
“It's a trap. I really, really hope Trump learned from his last four year, not to trust anybody in politics,” a user wrote last year. “With RFK as VP, deep state can whack Trump after election. While RFK will be pain in neck, he's a gnat at a picnic compared to Trump going after them.”
While the MAGA-sphere cannot agree on who they do want as vice president, they can certainly agree on who they don’t want.
Haley has been promoted in some quarters as a potential VP pick, including by Senator Lindsey Graham, because she could appeal to a different demographic and boost Trump’s chances of beating Biden.
But in online MAGA spaces, there is near universal derision of the former UN ambassador.
“First off… eww… she is absolutely terrible,” a prominent QAnon promoter known as MJ Truth wrote in his breakdown of potential VP picks. “There is no one more for sale than Nikki Haley. She was for BLM and is for trans insanity. Trump will have an issue with MAGA if he makes her VP. He’s too smart for that.”
Trump seemed to all but rule her out as a potential candidate himself this weekend, saying at a rally in New Hampshire that she lacked the necessary “presidential timbre” and so was not VP candidate material.
Haley herself has also repeatedly said she would not serve as vice president to Trump.
