Former President Donald Trump is testing the prospects of his potential running mates in the state of Iowa and dispatching a team of high-profile surrogates to secure votes for him. Trump’s vice presidential hopefuls are not only competing for support from likely caucus-goers but also braving adverse weather conditions.
Gov. Kristi Noem and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, two of Trump’s reported candidates for vice president, recently hosted events on opposite sides of Iowa, fueling speculation that they may have made it to his shortlist. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake also planned stops in the state, but were canceled due to severe blizzard conditions.
Meanwhile, Trump has been in two different courts in recent days, one for his New York state civil fraud trial and another for special counsel Jack Smith’s federal election inference case.
Other high-profile Trump supporters who campaigned for him in Iowa include former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Lake, Noem and Greene have been taking every opportunity to amplify their national profiles in case Trump chooses one of them as his running mate. And while Greene confirmed last year that she is being considered as a running mate, Lake has said that she is not spending time and energy thinking about it, but will support whoever Trump picks. On the other hand, Noem has been reminding reporters that she is open to becoming vice president.
Trump jokingly said he has already made a decision regarding his understudy and that it will not be former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has become an ardent critic. Kelley Koch, chairwoman of the Dallas County (Iowa) Republican Party, argued that the vice president must bring something to the table, such as being from a swing state or having an understanding of how to fix problems.
