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Trump's event with Kristi Noem fuels 2024 VP pick

speculation
Noem's expected to endorse Trump on Friday; tells Fox News 'I’d have to consider it' if Trump were to ask her to serve
as his running mate in 2024
By Paul Steinhauser Fox News

Published September 7, 2023 8:30pm EDT

Return of mask mandates is ‘blowing my mind’: Gov. Kristi Noem

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem reacts to reports of mask mandates being reinstated across parts of the country and discusses former President Trump’s
bid for the White House.

It'sbilled as a fundraiser for the South Dakota GOP, but a Friday rally with former President
Donald Trump and the deep red state's conservative two-term Gov. Kristi Noem could
signal much more.

Trump, the commanding front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, is

headlining the sold-out political gathering in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Noem, a longtime Trump supporter and ally, will appear with him on stage and is expected
to endorse the former president. And just as important, the appearance of the two
politicians joining forces is sparking speculation that the former president may be eyeing
the governor as a potential running mate in 2024.

"We have not discussed it at all," Noem said Thursday during an appearance on "Fox and
Friends."

IT'S TRUMP'S RACE TO LOSE FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS BEFORE THE FIRST VOTES
FOR THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION

Then-President Donald Trump speaks with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem during a meeting with Governors-Elect in the
Cabinet Room at White House on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington
Post via Getty Images) (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Asked in a Fox News Digital interview later Thursday if teaming up with Trump should be
seen as a possible screen test or audition for running mate, Noem answered: "I don’t think
so."

But she's not ruling anything out.

"Yeah. I’d have to consider it," the governor said when asked what she would do if she was
offered the job. "I think everybody would have to consider it if they were asked that
question. It’s such an important time in our history where we see constitutional freedoms
being undermined by leaders across this country almost every day."

CHECK OUT INITIAL FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINATION RACE

"We all should step up to make sure we’re doing all that we can to keeping our freedoms,
our values, America the way that it’s always been in place," she said.

Last year Noem mulled a 2024 White House run of her own. But she's been very clear in
recent months that Trump is unbeatable for the GOP nomination stressing that "he’s the ,

one that can win."

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is in her second term as governor (Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
Images)

"Ido feel pretty confident that President Trump will be the Republican nominee for
president," she told Fox News Digital. "He obviously has a record that he’s running on and
people know with him what they’re getting. I think these other candidates that are in may
be good people, but their record isn’t just as impressive."

Noem, pointing to Trump, emphasized that "the guy shows up."

The governor said that the other Republican presidential contenders were invited to the
South Dakota GOP gala, but that "all of them had somewhere else they needed to be or
had different priorities or said they were only going to focus on Iowa and New Hampshire.
That’s really what I think is impressive about President Trump is that everybody matters to
him."

WHERE THE PUSH TO BLOCK TRUMP FROM THE BALLOT IN A KEY PRIMARY STATE
CURRENTLY STANDS

Taking aim at Trump's rivals for the nomination, Noem argued "look at everybody who’s
standing on that stage and their record — you can’t rewrite history. So many of these
candidates are trying to re-write history."

Noem — who kept South Dakota open as the coronavirus pandemic swept across the
globe in 2020 — took an apparent swipe at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is a distant
second to Trump in most early 2024 polls.

"People on that stage shut down their businesses. They shut down their states and their
beaches," she said.

South Dakota's two GOP senators — John Thune and Mike Rounds — have already
endorsed Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina for the GOP nomination. None of the members
of the state's all-Republican congressional delegation are scheduled to attend the state
party event.

Noem has yet to endorse in the 2024 White House race but teased that a formal backing ,

of Trump would come at Friday's gathering.

"I’ve talked openly that he’s the candidate that I’m supporting. So tomorrow we’ll have
some conversations at the rally that I think everybody will be interested in," she told Fox
News. "Of course he’s absolutely the best choice for us. I don’t know of any other
candidate that’s running for president right now that fought when it mattered."

And multiple sources confirmed to Fox News' Mike Emanuel on Thursday that Noem's
expected to formally endorse Trump at the Rapid City event.

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The former president, who skipped last month's first Republican nomination debate, took
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Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at
our Fox News Digital election hub

Fox News' Mike Emanuel and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this story

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

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