Trump confirms Gov. Kristi Noem a potential VP selection

Feb. 21—South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is on former President Donald Trump's shortlist as a potential running mate in the general election.

During a Tuesday night, Feb. 20 town hall on Fox News, Trump confirmed Noem is on the list of vice president candidates during an interview with host Laura Ingraham.

Ingraham listed high-profile Republicans Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Byron Donalds, Noem and former Democratic presidential primary candidate Tulsi Gabbard as the six names, and Trump confirmed they are possible running mates.

"Honestly, all of those people are good," Trump said. "They're all good, they're all solid. And I always say, I want people with common sense because there's so many things happening in this country that don't make sense."

Trump added that he's looking for a vice president who would be "a good president because if something should happen, you have to have somebody that's going to be a great president."

In 2018, Noem was elected as South Dakota's first female governor after serving as the state's lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2010.

DeSantis, Florida's governor; Scott, U.S. senator from South Carolina; and Ramaswamy, a businessman, were each primary challengers to Trump for the Republican presidential nominee but have since dropped out of the race. Donalds is the U.S. representative for Florida's 19th congressional district.

It is still months away from the time when candidates typically choose running mates. In 2016, Trump picked Mike Pence as his VP on July 16. In 2020, Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his VP choice on Aug. 11.