There has been ongoing speculation for months regarding the possibility of former President Donald Trump selecting a woman as his running mate for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination. This speculation gained more momentum following the circulation of a viral photo online on Monday.

The photo depicted Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who holds the third-highest position within the GOP in the House, standing alongside the former president at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

“Great meeting at Mar-a-Lago with my friend President Trump! The stakes could not be higher. Patriots will continue to unite behind President Trump’s campaign to #SaveAmerica,” she wrote in a post with the photo on the X platform. “It’s all on the line. Let’s do this!”

In September, following the directive of then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to initiate a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Trump engaged in a conversation with Stefanik.

“I speak to President Trump a lot. I spoke to him today,” Stefanik told reporters, adding that she believes the Biden family’s business dealings are “the biggest political corruption scandal of our lifetime.”

According to The Hill, Stefanik, a prominent figure in the Republican leadership in the House, recently met with Trump, highlighting the enduring influence the former president holds over conservative Republicans. As a New York Republican, Stefanik has consistently shown her support for Trump and has even been considered as a potential running mate for him in the upcoming 2024 election. Additionally, she was among the early supporters within the House Republican leadership for the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Biden.

Trump also went on to hint that she may be the future President later on.

“I want to congratulate Elise on her success. Man, is she moving fast. That means at this rate she’ll be president in about 6 years,” Trump said. “She’s always been a friend, and people would say she’s upwardly mobile. She goes to Washington as a young beautiful woman who took over, and all of a sudden, she becomes a rocket ship. She’s the boss. She’s been a great boss, a strong boss.”

Stefanik recently lodged an ethics grievance against Manhattan Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron, accusing him of displaying “improper bias and judicial impropriety.” In a written communication addressed to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Stefanik strongly criticized Engoron’s overt animosity towards the establishment.

“This judge’s bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system, where Judge Engoron is not honoring the defendant’s rights to due process and a fair trial,” Stefanik wrote, asserting that those “serious concerns” are amplified by Trump’s status as the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

As the case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James has progressed, The Hill reports that the letter reiterates various arguments put forth by the former president’s legal team. These arguments include the assertion that there were “no victims” in Trump’s numerous business dealings and that Engoron has unfairly prejudged the case.

The Hill adds:

“Before the trial began, Engoron ruled that Trump, the Trump Organization and several executives — including Trump’s adult sons — were liable for fraud. The decision stripped Trump’s business licenses and put some of his iconic properties at risk, though a New York appeals court paused the cancellation of the business licenses until after it hears Trump’s case.

Trump’s behavior toward Engoron began to significantly break down after the judge issued a limited gag order barring the former president or other parties from speaking about the judge’s principal law clerk, whom Trump and his team have decried as biased and “Trump-hating.”


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