Donald Trump May Drop JD Vance for Nikki Haley, Ex-Clinton Adviser Says - Newsweek
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Aila Slisco Writer
An ex-adviser to former President Bill Clinton has predicted that former President Donald Trump will remove Senator JD Vance as his vice presidential pick.
Rumors of Trump suffering buyer's remorse after choosing Vance as his 2024 running mate have been rampant since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the likely Democratic presidential nominee.
While Trump has publicly insisted that he is happy with Vance, saying the senator is "doing a fantastic job" and has been "very well received" by the public during a Fox News interview on Thursday, worries remain about whether the Ohio senator could be a liability for Republicans in November.
Paul Begala, who served as White House adviser and chief strategist during Clinton's successful 1992 campaign, suggested during a CNN appearance on Thursday night that Trump may decide to ditch Vance in favor of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is pictured on the left, while Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is shown on the right. Former Bill Clinton adviser Paul Begala predicted on Thursday that Haley would replace...Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is pictured on the left, while Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is shown on the right. Former Bill Clinton adviser Paul Begala predicted on Thursday that Haley would replace Vance as former President Donald Trump's running mate. More Leon Neal; Alex Wong
Begala said during a panel discussion on Jake Tapper's interview with Haley, which aired minutes earlier, that the former ambassador was "campaigning" for the VP slot and that Democrats had already "set a precedent" by changing their ticket.
"There's a nonzero chance the Republicans take their vice presidential candidate off the ticket," Begala said. "He's been a dud. He's the first vice presidential nominee of either party since 1980 to begin underwater in his approval ratings."
"He's not good on the stump," he continued. "I don't like Trump [but] he's really charismatic ... JD, so far, is just dull. This is a woman [Haley] campaigning to get on the ticket, you watch, this year. You watch."
Begala went on to ponder "what a different race we would have" if Trump had chosen Haley over Vance, arguing that she would act as "a bridge" to potential swing voters coveted by both parties.
"Trump is not good with long relationships," Begala concluded. "And he's not gonna hang in there with JD."
In response to Newsweek's request for comment on Begala's prediction, Trump/Vance campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said that "there's a reason Paul Beluga [sic] no longer gets paid for his political advice."
While Haley might have a broader appeal to undecided voters than Vance, her status as the last Republican to mount a primary challenge against Trump, when the former president often referred to her as "birdbrain," may make the scenario unlikely.
Haley endorsed Trump at last week's Republican National Convention. However, she warned Republicans while campaigning earlier this year that Trump becoming the GOP nominee would lead to Democrats winning in November. Trump said in May that Haley was "not under consideration" as his VP pick.
Trump's decision to pick Vance as his running mate, which was announced less than 48 hours after the former president survived an assassination attempt, has prompted concerns about the Republican ticket's appeal to women following Biden's decision to drop out of the race.
Vance has faced backlash over previously expressing support for a national abortion ban. The Ohio senator and Trump, who frequently boasts about appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, have been attempting to soften their abortion rhetoric ahead of the election.
The senator also once suggested that the country was being run by "childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives," a comment that has since been denounced by women on both ends of the political spectrum.
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Yeah, Joe Biden called the Vice Presidency a black job.
oh goody, 100 days of maga panic and desperation...
What they put you through.
I think the moment has passed Nikki Haley by.
If he does dump Vance I think it will be Marco Rubio.
my thought ? we all know trump cant keep his mouth shut , his advisors should have at the very least made sure he could have picked a running mate that could keep their mouths shut and not say stupid shit . to democrats advantage , that didnt happen .
It’s just a rumor until it happens, but such incompetence from Trump is pretty much par for the course.
It is very unlikely that Trump will replace Vance because Trump never admits he made a mistake, which is what dropping Vance would be - an admission by Trump that he was wrong.
Vance was a catastrophic choice by Trump. He gets to live with it.
yeah but what catch phrase is he famous for ? i think vance screws the pooch enough and we may hear it yet again . he pulls trumps thunder of being the center of the known universe , even if its lousy thunder , he wont stand for that . he will find some way to get vance to step down . trick will be , what can he offer vance to do so , that would have the same type of power , that doesnt need congressional approval?
Trumps last four years avoided Congressional approval after the initial A-team and Cabinets were picked, followed by
dozens of cabinet replacements as "Acting Secretary" etc.
How many Ag's served under Trump, 7? only 3 approved.
A team turnover was no better, how many press Secretaries were there before they just stopped doing pressers?
very true.
Another reason is that it seems that Vance would have to voluntarily step down and then the RNC would have to go through an approval and replacement process. All this would need to be done before the DNC convention is over because states will by then ALL be producing ballots. This also runs the risk of violating state rules.
In all, replacing Vance would be quite a mess and every day that goes by makes it worse ... especially if Trump does not get this done prior to the DNC convention is over.
I think Trump is indeed stuck with Vance. This is a double-edged sword since on one hand it makes the ticket less appealing in general and more likely to lose. But if they should win, we have a truly shit PotUS and VP running the nation.
Nikki will be in his administration, perhaps SoS?
He hates her. She will never be the SoS for the PoS.
Hey, Biden picked Harris after she scorched him in the primary.
Strange bedfellows persist in politics.
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Yes, he did. She really did scorch him pretty good.
That's very true. I just think it's unlikely he will make a change since it would be an admission that he made a mistake, something he will never do.
Agreed but it’s much too early to tell mistake or not.
It's starting out looking really bad for Vance, but we will see as the campaign progresses.
Well we do not want him to peak in negativity too soon. He has the makings to serve as a great boat anchor for the campaign.
I just think it's unlikely he will make a change since it would be an admission that he made a mistake, something he will never do.
Amazing how huge the turnover was in this first failed administration. Couldn’t have been his fault that he chose all those losers though.
I find turnover rate a useful metric.
Almost 92% of VP Harris’ initial staff have left during her nearly four years. Only four of the initial 47 hires from her first year have remained employed without interruption.
True. It would be best if that happened at the beginning of November.
That reminds me of this underwater shot:
Most of them seem to be working for his campaign again.
lol …. Good shot
Exactly, both Trump and Harris have big problems keeping their staff.
Swamped by other boats during the Lake Travis Boat parade for Trump
We do everything bigger in Texas, not necessarily smarter.
'Trump Boat Parade' in Texas disrupted when several boats sink (nbcnews.com)
Lately Newsweek has become kind of like the National Enquirer.
Lately?
sometimes the NE , was right , remember Gary hart ?
Yep, he ran McGovern’s campaign in 72, challenged reporters to catch him cheating on his wife during his presidential campaign and they did. Stayed married thru it all. Dem presidents gave him odd jobs to stay employed.
Nikki Haley may be J.D. Vance's running mate. Or have Democrats given up on their homie-team prosecutors and courts? If Democrats really want to run against Trump then they better reel in Bragg & Smith & Willis.
It’d be funny if she told him to go fuck himself.
too much like dick cheney talking to harry reid in front of the cameras .
Anyone can make a prediction.
That said, Vance is not helping the ticket right now. He is a smart guy with a silver tongue but seems to lack a filter / discipline. It is an incredibly stupid move, IMO, to suggest that childless people in the USA are lesser than those with children — in any way. And his "childless cat lady" quips have pissed off the fans of one of the most influential individuals for young people in the USA today — Taylor Swift (several hundred million Swifties worldwide). It is difficult to estimate how many of them are US voters but it would seem obvious that pissing off Swifties is a very dumb move. Kind of like pissing off Oprah fans.
I can see Trump in desperation replacing Vance if he has a few more major unforced errors. This is NOT what Trump would want to do. Trump's ego does not want to illustrate his failure in picking a running mate, but if he believes that Vance harms his ability to get elected he will act in a do or die situation.
Vance is a political novice.
Personally I hope he does. She may bring in some independent voters and end up being the first President woman of color in 4 years. That would be historic, not to mention fry the dems ass.
I would prefer Vance stay in the race and keep poisoning the well.
But if Trump made history by firing his VP before the election then that would be a nice negative on Trump too.
Either way, if Vance does not get his act together quickly, it is nothing but bad news for Trump.
Yeah, that is how independent voters think.
Favoring one party to succeed even though it is trying to elect a scoundrel and hoping for ill will on the other party is exquisitely partisan.
Right now, IMO, the GOP has lost its bearings. It is the GOP in name only. I would prefer that it recover from its Trump infection and become a rational, responsible party again. My hope was that Nikki Haley would have secured the nomination (or, really, anyone other than Trump) so that the GOP could start the process of healing. She was my choice for PotUS.
At this point, it is not clear when the GOP will recover its senses. It could take a decade. And Haley has screwed things up further by reversing herself (a profound failure of integrity) and falling in line for Trump. I no longer support her.
I am in favor of a rational GOP to counter the Ds and am favor of a rational D party to counter the GOP. Since we are stuck with a two party system, the best we can do is achieve some level of parity. It is the strongest check we have. But in its current state, I have lost what little trust I had in the GOP. I am thus against the 2024 GOP because of where it currently stands (a Trump cult) even though I wish it well for the future.
You want to "fry the Dems ass". Lovely. That is classical partisanship.
I hope most Haley voters will stay true to the reasons they supported Haley in the first place ... because Trump was unacceptable. Priority one for me is to ensure that Trump never has access to the power of the presidency.
Actually it has more to do with enjoying watching hypocrisy fry anyone's ass but feel free sticking to the partisan shtick.
Who one likes and doesn't like can change when it means it can make a positive difference. I think that if Trump had any brains (and a lot of people think he hasn't) now that Kamala Harris is the probable Democrat candidate, choosing Nikki Haley as his VP will split the vote for Kamala because she's a woman, (although there IS the abortion issue) and would give Trump a bigger chance for success. Let's see what happens, and maybe I'll be right, and maybe I'll be wrong, but if I'm right and Trump wins, I'll sign autographs if anyone wishes. LOL