There's a distinct lack of women in former President Donald Trump's inner circle — and it's already led him to make significantly worse campaign decisions in 2024 than he did in 2016, wrote Nell Scovell in an analysis for The Daily Beast.
And nothing drives this home more, she argued, than his decision to pick brash far-right populist Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate — a choice that, according to some reports, he is already regretting.
A similar thing happened in 2016, Scovell noted. At the time, Trump's choices were between then-Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), then-Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN), and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
Trump reportedly wanted Christie, but his daughter Ivanka talked him out of it, enraged that the potential choice had prosecuted her husband Jared Kushner's father in the past.
Trump's wife Melania, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, and communications strategist Hope Hicks steered him away from Gingrich, marred by a history of adultery, toward Pence, who Scovell wrote proved to be a solid choice — even if Trump would later fall out with him over refusing to help him block certification of the 2020 election.
This time around, Scovell wrote, Trump's finalists were Vance, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Scott (R-SC), and Gov. Doug Burgum. Trump reportedly wanted Burgum, a safe, boring, Pence-style pick. But his son Donald Trump Jr., a close friend of Vance, browbeat him into changing his mind.
And with many of the women in his first campaign gone, and Ivanka and Melania distancing themselves, there were no women in Trump's inner circle to tell him how big of a thud that choice would land with women voters, Scovell wrote.
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"Trump let men steer his decision that will influence the vote of millions of women," wrote Scovell. "A dose of estrogen might have landed on a different candidate. Would Ivanka have rolled her eyes at Vance’s extremism? ... Would Melania and Conway have pushed back on Vance’s desire to do away with 'no-fault divorce'? Would Hicks have agreed with Vance’s position that wives should stay in abusive marriages?"
Now, Trump is locked into his decision, wrote Scovell. "While the latest polls show Trump still has a slim lead over Harris, a greater shift may occur when future polls include whomever the Democrats pick for the VP slot. And unlike the GOP, a woman will definitely be part of making that decision."
