Inside MTG and Kari Lake’s ‘Death Race’ To Become Trump’s VP

Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng
·6 min read
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Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kari Lake have been locked in what one source close to Donald Trump describes to Rolling Stone as a “death race” to become his 2024 vice presidential pick.

In public, the far-right congresswoman from Georgia and the failed Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate are happy to present an image of calm unity in their cause to return Trump to the White House. But behind the scenes, the two view one another with intense distrust and disdain, each seeing the other as direct competition for Trump’s political affections, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Exacerbating the situation is the fact that Greene and Lake are the two leading contenders in a very narrow lane in the race to secure Trump’s VP slot, should he win the 2024 Republican nomination next year. It’s the lane of election-denying, shameless Trump diehard who has emerged as a conspiracy-theory-slinging star among the conservative base.

Greene, in particular, has gone beyond simple attempts to raise her own profile in the ongoing Trump veepstakes. In recent weeks, she has moved behind the scenes to tear down Lake, garrulously trash-talking her to others in the MAGA elite, political circles, and conservative media, multiple sources tell Rolling Stone.

In an ironic twist, one of the bigger complaints coming from Greene — who years ago cemented her public image as a QAnon-promoting, school-shooting-survivor-mocking, Jewish-Space-Laser-fearing activist — lately is that Lake is not a “serious” enough person to be Trump’s second-in-command.

“MTG thinks she’s a scammer and not even a conservative,” says one of the sources who’s spoken to Greene about this. The source adds that Greene has privately said that “Lake is a grifter and [is] trying to keep riding Trump’s coattails because she lost [in Arizona], so she’s cozying up on the election-integrity messaging.”

Similarly, according to a different source who personally knows and likes both Lake and Greene, in a conversation with the MAGA congresswoman within the past several weeks, “Kari did come up, and the term ‘grifter’ was used to describe her more than just once…[MTG] thinks it’s complete nonsense that anyone would think it’s a good idea for Donald Trump to consider [Kari] for VP.”

This year, when embarrassing stories have appeared in the news about the Arizona Republican, Lake has at times voiced her suspicions that Greene has been leaking negative information about her to the press, another source familiar with the matter says.

Tensions between Lake and Greene were visible during Trump’s speech at Mar-a-Lago after New York prosecutors indicted him on charges of falsifying business records earlier this year. According to one person in attendance, Greene’s demeanor turned icy after witnessing the loud applause and chants of “Kari won!” — a reference to her failed gubernatorial bid — for Lake.

Trump has from time to time quizzed confidants on who they think the best possible VP picks could be. Lake and Greene are indeed among the names the former president has repeatedly discussed, when discussing pros and cons with certain allies and senior staffers.

Unfortunately for both Lake and Greene, numerous sources close to Trump and working on his reelection effort deem each of their Trump-VP chances as vanishingly low. Several of these people independently claimed that even Trump is not “stupid enough” to tap either as his running mate. Some of these sources say they’ve already advised the routinely indicted 2024 GOP frontrunner that someone like Greene or Lake would bring nothing of value to a ticket, and could easily hurt him with independent and moderate voters who he’d need to unseat President Joe Biden.

However, another person close to the former president says that in the past few months, Trump has made a point of repeatedly commending each of them for their frequent efforts — both publicly and behind the scenes with lawmakers and grassroots activists — to aid his 2024 campaign. Further, as Rolling Stone reported back in October, Trump has suggested to close associates that Greene would be “great” in some position of seniority in his potential second administration, whether in the cabinet, at an agency, or in the West Wing at his side. The ex-president even floated the idea of installing her at the Justice Department; this confused some in Trump’s orbit because, as a source bluntly put it: “I don’t think she’s a lawyer.”

Greene, for her part, is more than willing to publicly angle for the role of Trump’s vice presidential choice. “I’d have to think about it and consider it,” Greene said last month. “It’s talked about frequently and I know my name is on a list but really my biggest focus right now is serving the district that elected me.” Last year, Greene told The New York Times she and Trump had even discussed the idea of the congresswoman being his VP pick, adding: “I would be honored,” but, “I think the last person that the [Republican National Committee] or the national party wants is me as his running mate.”

Moreover, during Biden’s presidency, Greene has forged strong ties not just to Trump himself, but to other mainstream Republican leaders. In her attempt to shed some of her fringe credentials and become embraced by her party’s honchos, she emerged as an extremely close ally and defender of GOP House speaker Kevin McCarthy, for instance.

Lake’s own rising profile among Republicans appears to be fueling Greene’s animus. Lake has made a number of trips to Iowa to campaign for Trump and one early poll in the state showed she was the top vice presidential pick among Republican voters in the state next to Gov. Nikki Haley.

That popularity translated into whispers among certain Trumpworld luminaries that Lake’s name was added to a shortlist of possible running mates. In March, Axios reported that Lake was one of four women under consideration for the vice presidential nod alongside South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and South Dakota Gov. Krisi Noem.

Greene, of course, has been open about her vice presidential ambitions. Last month she also floated the idea of either a Georgia Senate run or a shot as a vice presidential pick. She asked The Atlanta Journal Constitution, “Am I going to be a part of President Trump’s Cabinet if he wins? Is it possible that I’ll be VP?”

In the not-too-distant past — before their rivalry truly kicked in — Greene had been vocally supportive of Lake, when the latter’s ambitions were focused on statewide office. During Lake’s run for the governor’s office in Arizona, Greene championed her run and urged “Keep fighting Kari” as the Republican gubernatorial candidate challenged her loss in court.

Greene hasn’t mentioned Lake on her Twitter feed since that December 2022 tweet. Lake, on the other hand, hasn’t been quite so obvious. In April, she publicly thanked Greene for a video alleging corruption in the Biden family.

Despite the simmering resentments between the two MAGA stalwarts, Lake may make a decision in the coming weeks that could determine whether Greene continues to view her as an imminent threat.

In the months since her gubernatorial loss, and as rumors of her Trump-VP desires swirled, Lake has also flirted with launching a U.S. Senate run in Arizona for the seat held by Democratic-turned-independent lawmaker Kyrsten Sinema.

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