NBC News's First Read has the list of those "in the hunt" to be Donald Trump's vice-presidential pick down to five names, the same number that Trump gave Monday morning to theWashington Post. Both lists include one name that would likely doom Trump's candidacy: retired Army general Michael Flynn. (The other four alleged finalists are, in alphabetical order, Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence, and Jeff Sessions.)
On Sunday, Flynn proclaimed the following: "On abortion…women have to be able to choose." His reasoning hardly conveyed intellectual heft: "They are the ones that have to make the decision because they are the ones that are going to decide to bring up that child or not." On Monday, Flynn followed that up byproclaiming himself "pro-life"—or, more specifically, "a pro-life Democrat."
For Trump to have a realistic chance of winning this fall, his vice-presidential pick needs to signal two key things: first, that the ticket isn't amateur hour; and second, that Trump views the ticket as the natural home of the conservative movement. Putting Flynn on the ticket would convey the opposite (on both counts).
A Flynn pick would quite plainly signal to conservative voters that Trump is indifferent to their cause. For all of Trump's challenges in trying to unite Republicans, he hasn't yet lost social conservatives—whether evangelicals or movement conservatives. Indeed, they combined with less religious or more moderate voters to help put Trump over the top in the GOP primary. But a pro-abortion vice-presidential pick—especially one without, say, Rudy Giuliani's otherwise-strong conservative credentials—would change that dynamic overnight.
No presidential candidate can expect to win if his own party's base isn't on board, and Trump is—after all—running as a Republican. Mitt Romney won the independent vote by five percentage points yet lost the election by four points, while Obama held his base and won.
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05.09.2025