Here's the deal ... with Republican primary season underway, and Trump leading the ever-shrinking pack ... there's been a lot of speculation over who's going to be his #2.

While Tucker's name has been tossed around, he's always rebuffed the idea.

As recently as a month ago, in fact, he told Megyn Kelly politics aren't for him ... not as a career, anyway.

Now, sources with direct knowledge tell us Tucker hasn't explicitly changed that tune around those in his inner circle -- but we're also told there is a feeling from several in his orbit that he could actually be convinced to dive in with Trump, if push came to shove.

Here's what we're hearing from people in his world -- TC, of late, has been expressing to some in his orbit that Trump selecting a Republican along the lines of Nikki Haley (who's the only real challenger at this point), Tim Scott or even Mike Pompeo would be a "disaster" for the country.

We're told if Tucker feels Trump's making a bad choice for the country, he might be willing to throw his hat in the ring as another -- and, in his eyes, better -- option for Trump.

Our sources say people in Trump's world have been kicking around Tucker's name internally -- and we're even told there are a few Trump surrogates quietly pushing for him behind the scenes. In fact, our sources say Donald himself has spoken glowingly about TC.

Plus, take into consideration that Don Jr. himself has also name-dropped Tucker in the VP conversation -- so yes, there's definitely a little momentum. Although we're told Tucker himself has not expressed direct interest in the appointment. At least not yet, anyway.

So, where does that leave us? Well, on its face ... it sounds like many people would love to see Tucker run as Trump's Veep, and it also appears there are people in Tucker's world who actually think he might take the leap as time goes on.

Tucker has been very outspoken on a lot of issues heading into the 2024 election -- but, to be fair, that is what he does for a living.

The question now is ... is he willing to do anything more than simply talk about the issues Time will tell!