During an interview on Wednesday, former Fox News host Megyn Kelly said that she thinks former President Donald Trump should pick an “establishment” Republican as his running mate.
While discussing her thoughts in an interview on NewsNation, Kelly said that Trump should look to his former Republican primary competitors, saying he should pick someone like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Run DeSantis.
When explaining why she felt Trump should go with a more traditional Republican, she said that the former president is still “not that popular” among a significant share of the Republican base.
Kelly pointed to the Indiana GOP presidential primary, where Trump received 78% of the votes and Haley, who ended her campaign two months ago, got 22%.
“Well, you may not have heard that Trump is not that popular with a core segment of the Republican Party,” Kelly said in response to the results.
Even though she admits that it’s unlikely Trump will pick Haley or DeSantis, she encouraged him to pick someone with a similar appeal.
“He should pick a running mate that will represent that faction of the party, that is not core MAGA, that’s a little bit more establishment,” Kelly said.
Kelly said that while most Republicans will “still vote for Trump, most are not core MAGA.”
“I realize he is probably not going to pick Haley, but he should get somebody like that for his VP pick,” Trump said, adding that he “should get a DeSantis type.”
Currently, Trump is expected to pick his VP from a large field of Republicans that includes Sens. Tim Scott (S.C.), Marco Rubio (FL), and JD Vance (OH); North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders; and Reps. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Byron Donalds (FL).
Still, Trump has not made it clear publicly who he will choose to be on the ballot with him come November.