Ahead of First Presidential Debate, Trump Says He’s Picked Running Mate
Former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's 'Road to Majority' policy conference in Washington, D.C., June 22, 2024.
Former president Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, said during a campaign trip on Saturday that he has picked his vice presidential nominee just days before the June 27 presidential debate.
Trump told reporters he’s chosen his running mate for the 2024 campaign but has not told the candidate yet. The vice-presidential choice will be attending the debate between Trump and President Joe Biden set to take place next week, Trump said.
The first presidential debate between Trump and Biden will air on CNN in primetime for 90 minutes. Trump will be hoping Joe Biden’s age and apparent mental decline will be on display for a national audience.
Over the past few months, numerous Republican hopefuls have been rumored to be on Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist. North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, Florida senator Marco Rubio, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, and Ohio senator J. D. Vance are names that have come up repeatedly in news reports detailing Trump’s vice-presidential selection process.
Burgum emerged as a vice-presidential option after running a long-shot GOP presidential campaign and becoming a surrogate for Trump upon dropping out of the 2024 primary.
“He’s very well regarded within the Trump circle,” a senior official in Trump’s orbit previously told NR regarding Burgum’s VP chances. He was one of many contenders slated to attend the Republican National Committee’s annual donor retreat in May.
Unlike some of the other contenders, Burgum would be an older selection at age 67, and holds an estimated net worth of at least $100 million — primarily from selling a tech startup to Microsoft during the dot-com bubble.
Rubio’s prospects of being Trump’s running mate are complicated by the Twelfth Amendment’s language preventing a presidential and vice-presidential candidate from having the same state of residence. Trump changed his official residency to Florida during his presidential term.
Since his failed 2016 GOP presidential campaign, Rubio has evolved ideologically and become a defender of Trump after once being a notable Trump critic.
Like Rubio, Vance was a Trump critic when his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, vaulted him to national stardom. These days, Vance is one of Trump’s strongest defenders and an advocate for his agenda on trade, immigration, foreign policy, and other salient issues.
South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, Florida representative Byron Donalds, and New York representative Elise Stefanik are other Republicans who have been floated as potential VP selections. Noem’s vice-presidential chances diminished significantly because of a story she told in her new memoir about killing her dog two decades ago, drawing outrage and bewilderment from across the political spectrum.
Stefanik and Donalds are two of Trump’s most prominent supporters among House Republicans. Both endorsed Trump during the 2024 Republican primary cycle.
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