With Trump's decisive victory in Tuesday night's New Hampshire primary, many political pundits believe the Republican presidential nomination is all sewed up. Still, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has vowed to stay in the race and is concentrating on her home state of South Carolina, which holds its Republican primary on February 24.
American Family Radio host Jenna Ellis is a former attorney for Trump. She argues that Trump has a major task ahead of him – specifically, unifying the Republican Party. And that would include mollifying the establishment wing of the GOP, a voting bloc she argues Trump needs.
"The establishment wing of the GOP is still, unfortunately, very strong," says Ellis. "So, there's a huge divide within the party itself. And Donald Trump is going to have a very difficult time coalescing the entire GOP, getting the establishment Republicans, getting the disaffected DeSantis voters, and getting beyond MAGA and back into true conservatism. "
That said, Ellis has a prediction about who Trump might pick for his running mate: none other than his remaining major opponent, Nikki Haley … who some argue represents the GOP's establishment wing.
"Haley will be the VP selection because Donald Trump not only needs her voting base, but he also needs her donors – and if we know anything about Donald Trump, it's that he is very savvy in terms of understanding that politics is all about addition, not subtraction," says the radio host.
"The primary represented a huge divide and a lot of subtraction from the MAGA movement," Ellis continues. "He is going to have to try to reach out to the entire GOP or risk losing not only to whoever the Democrats put up but a third-party independent like an RFK."
Ellis isn't alone in her prediction. Author and broadcaster Clay Travis thinks Haley may be someone Trump needs to consider.
"Haley does do well with suburban women who are independent swing voters and the people who are persuadable," he states. "And I'm not sure at this point … that you can point me to anyone who Trump would pick that would help him win the general election as a vice-presidential candidate more than Nikki Haley."
Travis admits he likes people such as Rep. Elise Stefanik and Sen. Tim Scott – both of whom have come up during predictions of potential VP candidates – but neither of them "changes the dynamic very much."
Haley? Not so fast…
But does Trump "need" Haley? Conservative activist Gary Bauer, chairman of Campaign for Working Families, isn't as sure as Ellis and Travis seem to be.
"… President Trump had an incredible victory in New Hampshire," he acknowledges. "First of all, [he] is the first major party candidate to win both Iowa and New Hampshire in the same cycle. The two states usually do the exact opposite of each other, but Donald Trump won them both," he points out.
But Bauer – who himself is a former GOP presidential candidate – disagrees with those who believe Trump needs to do better with the "independent" voters who supported Haley in New Hampshire.
"He will need to win actual independent voters around the country," says Bauer, "and every national poll [shows] he is winning actual independent voters who are fed up with the failures of the Biden administration.
"That isn't who voted for Nikki Haley in New Hampshire," Bauer emphasizes. "The people who voted for Nikki Haley in New Hampshire this week said that in November they were going to vote for Joe Biden." Those voters, he contends, were liberals attempting to hurt Trump.
Trump won the New Hampshire primary by 11.5 points – a setback for Haley, who finished second despite investing significant time and financial resources in a state famous for its independent streak. And having finished in the third position in the Iowa Caucuses prior, Haley is being encouraged by some to throw in the towel.
