Steve Bannon, who was once one of former President Donald Trump’s closest advisers, believes that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is setting herself up to become Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate.
Bannon, the host of the “War Room” podcast, said in an interview this week with NBC News: “This is no shrinking violet, she’s ambitious — she’s not shy about that, nor should she be. … She sees herself on the shortlist for Trump’s VP.”
Bannon added that he believes when Greene “looks in the mirror, she sees a potential president smiling back.”
NBC noted that another source, who had advised Greene previously, said her “whole vision is to be vice president.” That source also believes that Greene would be on Trump’s short list, speaking anonymously due to his own ties to the former president.
Both Bannon and the other source believe that this is the reason for Greene’s recent effort to rebrand herself as a politician who serves as a go-between for hardline conservatives and the party’s establishment wing.
This was most easily noted in Greene’s recent push for a McCarthy speaker, which alienated some of her allies in the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives. Bannon believes the action was a calculated risk.
“She’s both strategic and disciplined — she made a power move, knowing it would run up hard against her most ardent crew,” Bannon added. “She was prepared to take the intense heat/hatred short-term for the long-term goal of being a player.”
At this point, Trump has given no indication of who he may be considering for a vice-presidential pick at this early stage. However, Greene has been in talks as a potential Trump running mate for some time.
Back in October, New York Times Magazine writer Robert Draper appeared on MSNBC, alleging that Greene had told him that she may be on the ticket with Trump next year.
“To be fair, it’s very likely that Trump has had this conversation with half a dozen other people too,” he told host Ali Velshi. However, he added that Greene had something many other GOP women didn’t.
“What Greene possesses that Trump so craves is loyalty. She has always been there for Trump. She has always had his back and after his experience with his last running mate, Mike Pence, it’s clear that he’s going to prize loyalty above all else, so I wouldn’t count it out,” he said.
Prior to that, Draper had spoken to The Daily Beast’s “New Abnormal” podcast and said “that Greene had risen quickly in her first term in Congress by using the same tactics she honed as a right-wing social media influencer harassing Democratic staffers, and she could shoot to the second-highest office in government,” Raw Story reported.
“Republicans kind of wanted to kick her to the curb immediately,” said Draper, per the outlet. “But instead, she became a fundraising dynamo, came to have this huge social media influence, and ultimately came to be very influential within the party itself.”
Draper added that Trump has been seriously considering Greene as a potential vice presidential candidate since February.
“[Trump] has every reason to expect that Greene would be by his side and would be his proximate warrior” through thick and thin, Draper noted further.
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