Nikki Haley Fans Spark GOP Concerns for Trump in VP Search

Donald Trump is facing words of caution from within his party as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee narrows down his choice for vice president.

With former GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley continuing to chip away at his primary victory margins despite dropping out of the race two months ago, some Republicans are sounding the alarm for Trump to give more consideration to a vice presidential pick who can help close the gap with irritated supporters of the ex-South Carolina governor.

The latest warning sign for Trump came this week when roughly 1 in 5 — nearly 22% — of GOP voters in Indiana’s primary voted for Haley.

“There’s still a very sizable portion of the Republican Party that’s insisting on a candidate who they can be proud of, on account of their character attributes and who promotes a policy agenda consistent with basic Reagan-era principles,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), former chairman of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, told the Washington Examiner.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) suggested Trump’s running mate could become the future of the party and present an opportunity to win over Haley voters.

“The population we need to be going after is this 17% of people that are not voting for President Trump in a primary even though Nikki Haley is not even in the primary,” Marshall said. “There’s a group of Republicans out there that will play the long game. They want to know who’s going to be the president after President Trump.”

Since Haley dropped out in early March after losing all but one state in Super Tuesday’s primary races, she’s still managed to clinch 13%-18% of the GOP electorate in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. The results have raised questions about whether her supporters in November will side with Trump or if they’re willing to snub the ex-president by voting across party lines or sitting out the presidential contest altogether.

President Joe Biden has been courting Haley voters, with his campaign cutting ads in places like Pennsylvania that highlight Trump’s derogatory nicknames and rhetoric about his former Republican opponent.

Despite warnings from some in the GOP not to treat Haley voters as a foregone conclusion for Trump in the general election, other Republicans — including potential vice presidential picks — are banking on her supporters ultimately sticking with the party or playing little role.

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) — all names on Trump’s vice presidential short list — downplayed the notion that his running mate will have a significant impact.

“I know the media is obsessed about this [Haley’s primary support], but look at the general election polls, Trump is sweeping,” Stefanik told the Washington Examiner. “He has over 90% of support among Republicans when it polls for the general election. … You see a cratering of support [for Biden] among Democrats.”

Vance characterized votes for Haley as “protest ballots” from those who were never going to support Trump in a primary and put little stock in the value of recent election results.

“My personal view is that Donald Trump’s going to win no matter who he picks,” Rubio said. “He was the president before. People are going to vote based on that, but I think the criteria he said publicly is the right one, which is someone who’s ready to be president.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence played a key role in Trump’s 2016 victory and helped bolster his standing among evangelical voters with more traditional conservative values that contrasted the former president’s more populist and unpolished rhetoric.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a close ally to Trump, said he would approve of any vice presidential candidate who “understands his agenda” but who also “makes him more competitive.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) pleaded for Trump to choose anyone but a GOP senator for fear of handing a seat to Democrats in a special election, such as when Democrat Doug Jones was elected in 2017 to the seat vacated by then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who became Trump’s attorney general.

In addition to Rubio and Vance, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is among Trump’s top candidates.

Potential picks outside of Congress include North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who went on as senator to twice vote to convict Trump in Senate impeachment trials, has vowed not to vote for him in the election. He predicted Trump has more to lose than gain with his eventual running mate.

“I think a VP loses votes, perhaps, but doesn’t get you new votes,” Romney told the Washington Examiner. “I don’t think he’s going to be looking for a Nikki Haley-type VP.”

Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.