MAGA Voters Want VP DeSantis

[Government of Florida, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]

As it becomes increasingly clear that Donald Trump will run away with the Republican nomination, much of the talk has turned to who the former president will choose as his running mate. 

One thing for certain is that it won’t be Mike Pence. The former vice president has been adamant that he thinks the mobbing of the Capitol on January 6 disqualified Trump from the presidency. 

A new poll has revealed that if MAGA supporters have their way, Trump will be picking a different former challenger. OAN has the new numbers, and it reveals that one governor has a clear edge among Trump supporters. 

According to the I&I/TIPP’s national online poll, out of 14 potential candidates, the top choice was Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), followed by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) and then entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. 

With the question of who Trump’s potential running mate should be, the response was overwhelmingly DeSantis, according to the data.

“DeSantis received 34% of the total votes cast on both questions, compared to 24% for Haley, 21% for Ramaswamy, 19% for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), 17% for Ben Carson, 12% for TV personality and commentator Tucker Carlson and 10% for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.),” it added.

The poll comes after the Florida Governor backed out of the GOP lineup a few weeks ago as Trump continues to dominate the race to become the Republican nomination.

While the voters may want it, DeSantis himself has said that he’s “not a Number 2 guy.”  The New York Times reported in July that during an appearance in Wisconsin, the Florida governor said, “I think I’m a leader. Governor of Florida, I’ve been able to accomplish a lot. I think I probably could do more staying there than being V.P., which doesn’t really have any authority.”

At the time, Trump’s spokesman also shot down the idea. “Ron DeSantis isn’t anybody’s guy. He’s not ‘the guy.’ He’s just ‘a guy,’” Mr. Cheung said in a statement. “Ron is just there, sullen and sad, because his numbers are as tiny as him.”

The Trump-DeSantis may have a bigger obstacle than just the two leaders getting along. The 12th Amendment to the Constitution forbids members of the Electoral College from voting both for a president and vice-president who are both from the same state.

In 2019, despite being a longtime New Yorker, the former president announced that he had moved to Palm Beach, Florida.

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