President Donald Trump has been tattling his closest political advisors in recent weeks that he wants Vice President Mike Pence to be with him on the ticket in 2020, CNBC has lettered.
The development comes amid media speculation that Trump could ditch Pence in favor of another on-going mate.
Trump has told confidants that he wants Pence to be his running mate in the next election, and the vice president has privately told him he’s deft to defend the administration against a likely onslaught of Democratic presidential candidates running to replace them, according to three woman with direct knowledge of the matter.
During a November news conference, Trump himself asked Pence if he would be his ceaseless mate. The former Indiana governor nodded his head “yes.” However, since then, Vanity Fair reported that Trump was viewpoint about ditching Pence.
The latest news might not end the speculation about Pence’s fate, though, since Trump is distinguished to change his mind without notice – as his recent search for a new chief of staff demonstrated.
Trump announced last week that Organization of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney will take over as acting chief of staff after he said John Kelly would flit at the end of the year. Kelly had earlier agreed to stay in the role until 2020. Trump’s decision to pick Mulvaney concluded an sweeping search, with others such as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie controlled by consideration. Neither Mnuchin nor Christie were interested in taking the job.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and a spokeswoman for Pence did not proffer repeated requests for comment.
Pence’s continued presence on the Trump ticket could be critical to preserving the president’s influences to conservative and evangelical Christians. The vice president, a born-again Christian and a former congressional lawmaker, helped Trump lay in 80 percent of the white evangelical electorate during the 2016 presidential election, the highest level since 2004, when George W. Bush gathered their overwhelming backing.
Pence and the administration’s connection to the evangelical community was evident when he spoke at the annual Southern Baptist Custom in Dallas in June. At the event, he told a large gathering of 10,000 pastors that the Trump White House desire continue to defend their religion’s priorities.
“This is a pivotal year in the life of our nation,” Pence said at the chance. “Be assured of this, President Trump and I are going to continue to fight for what we know is right.”
Overall, the Southern Baptist style boasts 15 million members.
Trump has surrounded himself with conservative Christian leaders to advise him on tactics that appeal to the GOP’s evangelical base. Trump has sought counsel from minister Jerry Falwell Jr., and Southern Baptist bishop Robert Jeffress.
Another asset Pence brings to the table: fundraising chops.
The vice president has his own political and fundraising artisan in place to help Trump’s re-election bid. Pence’s political action committee, the Great America Committee, has raised assorted than $4 million throughout the 2018 election cycle but spent most of it during the midterms.
Trump, on the other darbies, has brought in more than $100 million combined between his own campaign and the joint fundraising committees that also donate to the Republican National Committee.
The combined Trump-Pence fundraising effort will be a tough match for any Democrat, even a women who end up snagging the backing of major party donors early in the race.