Steve Bannon thinks Donald Trump will shake off the growing hype surrounding Tucker Carlson and choose a woman as his running mate for the 2024 presidential election.
There is speculation about who could join the Republican frontrunner.
And Trump, who likes to keep the world in the dark, has hinted that the former Fox News star could be the man for the job.
But Bannon, who was CEO of Trump's 2016 campaign, played down the idea Friday evening when he appeared on Sean Spicer's show.
“If you're asking now if he was a likely candidate now… I don't think so,” he said. “I think in a very structured way that I believe President Trump will have a female vice president.”
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's former chief strategist, told Sean Spicer that he believes the Republican front-runner will choose a woman as vice president, but it won't be Nikki Haley
He used the interview to talk through the possible things, as well as some of the impossible ones, like former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who has been labeled too establishment by Trump supporters.
“I think it's really important that America First makes sure it's not Nikki Haley,” he said.
With eight months to go until the Republican convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Trump has plenty of time to make his decision.
Only one thing is certain: It won't be his 2016 and 2020 running mate Mike Pence, who emerged as one of the most anti-Trump voices on the campaign trail this year.
While a Senator Tim Scott or a Representative Byron Donald or a Ben Carson would be a good choice, Bannon said, “I think you have a half dozen to a dozen women who are very viable.”
He then listed six possible names, including South Carolina Gov. Kristi Noem and even Rep. Nancy Mace, who turned against Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6 violence.
Kristi Noem
Midwesterner Kristi Noem could provide geographic balance if selected as running mate
“I think Kristi Noem will be very competitive, given her understanding of the MAGA movement… born out of the Tea Party,” Bannon said. “Very close to President Trump.”
She has long been linked to a possible Trump ticket and has made it clear she would be interested in the job.
As a two-term governor, the 52-year-old also has the kind of winning streak that impresses Trump.
But she remains untested on the national stage. And the married mother of four has seen her conservative values questioned after being romantically linked to former Trump aide Corey Lewandowski, who has been involved in a number of headlines that sparked run-ins with the law.
That doesn't bother Trump.
Elise Stefanick
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a rising star who has caught Trump's attention
The 39-year-old five-term congressman has made the transition in recent years from establishment conservative to Trump enforcer.
She was Trump's impeachment defense team and won her early endorsement for 2024, before the former president even launched his campaign last year.
Bannon said she had only improved her credentials in the past two weeks with the way she held university leaders accountable for their anti-Semitic views on campus, or lack thereof.
“What she's done over the last few weeks, about the anti-Semitism and how she handled herself and behaved,” he said.
Nancy Mace
Nancy Mace may have excluded herself by publicly condemning Trump's role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot
When the Daily Mail surveyed New Hampshire Republicans over the summer about their choice to become vice president, Kari Lake was the top woman, followed by Nikki Haley.
Spicer expressed surprise when Bannon brought up the possibility of Mace.
“Are you really thinking about the things she said about President Trump?” he asked, noting that Trump wouldn't want someone to outdo him.
Mace turned on Trump after the January 6 riot and he responded in kind, supporting her main challenger.
“I think Nancy Mace should be included,” he said, after pointing out that she also voted for him to go to prison.
“First of all, just her Trumpian attitude. She comes at this with a brash and a set of titanium balls. You know, Trump likes to fight, right? And so I think she has a devilish, in-your-grill attitude…'
Kari Lake
Kari Lake narrowly missed last year's election for governor of Arizona and has modeled her approach on Trump's bombastic style
“I think Kari Lake can be very prominent,” Bannon said, even though she had no board experience whatsoever.
Instead, he said the 54-year-old former news anchor, who narrowly lost the race to become governor of Arizona last year, might have a different value than Trump.
Her broadcasting experience and slick presentation can help him sell policy now that a new government is facing problems on several fronts.
'Let's think about what the second term will be. “It's going to be a grind,” he said. I mean, you have geopolitical crises, you have economic crises in the financial capital markets, you have nine million illegal aliens here for deportation, there are so many…
The President will have to provide some of these, not only for the implementation, but also for the marketing of the program. I think I think Kerry Lake could be great in that.
Kim Reynolds
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds would have been a top contender had she not endorsed Trump rival Ron DeSantis for the 2024 Republican nomination
Reynolds and Trump in happier times at the White House in May 2020
“I would have said Kim Reynolds would have been on the shortlist,” Bannon said. That is, she previously broke ranks and supported Trump rival Ron DeSantis.
Reynolds is the popular governor of Iowa, making her something of a rising star in the conservative movement. She understands foreign policy and was often seen as a potential vice president for Trump.
Now her best bet is probably if DeSantis manages to turn his campaign around and defeat Trump for the nomination.
Spicer said her support was tested.
“Not just on the run: a kamikaze mission,” Bannon replied. 'What can't you read in the figures and about the organization and the movement?'
Without that, she would have been in the top five potential picks.
The bottom line, Bannon added, was that there was a very strong slate of potential vice presidential picks.
He also mentioned Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, Trump's White House press secretary, and Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, who was mentioned as a possible 2016 VP pick.
“I think you have a half dozen to a dozen women who are very viable, right,” Bannon said.