DeSantis and Haley Lead VP Preferences in GOP Voter Poll by I&I/TIPP

Former President Donald Trump’s shortlist of potential vice-presidential running mates differs from a recent poll’s results of Republican voters’ top VP choices.

The top four choices among GOP voters in June’s I&I/TIPP Poll were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, with DeSantis leading at 14% support, followed by Haley at 11%, Ramaswamy at 8%, and Abbott at 7%.

Interestingly, none of these top four choices were among the candidates reported to be on Trump’s shortlist last week.

The Associated Press reported that Trump’s campaign had started requesting information from potential VP candidates, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, and Dr. Ben Carson.

The Washington Examiner highlighted that the poll results led some Trump supporters to believe that his reported shortlist is either a deception or driven by revenge.

DeSantis and Haley, who previously ran against Trump for the GOP nomination, were the top choices in the poll, followed by Scott, Carson, Tucker Carlson, and Tulsi Gabbard.

With a margin of error of +/-3.8 percentage points, the survey conducted among 693 Republicans and GOP-leaning voters revealed a sense of uncertainty among respondents, with 26% answering “not sure” when asked for their top VP choice.

When considering both top and second choices, DeSantis, Haley, Abbott, Scott, and Ramaswamy and Carson emerged as the top contenders.

The question remains whether Trump will choose a running mate for political and policy backing, or for demographic appeal for election outreach, as suggested by Issues and Insights.

Writer/editor Charlie McCarthy at Newsmax, with nearly 40 years of experience in news, sports, and politics, covered this story.