With the Republican National Convention kicking off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in five days, speculation is rife about who former President Trump will pick as his running mate.
Trump political insiders have told Fox News and other media outlets that the three names are at the top of the list of potential candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
They are North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.
And the former president pointed the finger at the leading candidates during an interview Wednesday on Fox Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
Trump Drops Important Hint About Vice Presidential Pick
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump smiles during a campaign rally at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla., Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier) (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Trump was interviewed the morning after the main event of a rally at his Doral Golf Club outside Miami, Florida, where Rubio had addressed the crowd at the start of the rally.
“Marco was fantastic last night, very popular,” Trump said. Kilmeade on Fox News.
Rubio and Trump had a fierce battle during the 2016 Republican presidential primary, but Rubio became a staunch ally of Trump during his time in the White House.
Trump and his allies have stepped up their voices against Biden since the debate.
But both Trump and Rubio live in Florida, and the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that a presidential and vice presidential candidate running on the same national ticket “shall not be an inhabitant of the same state as the person himself.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) arrives to speak before Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Trump National Doral Miami, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Doral, Florida. (Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press)
Asked whether the residency issue was a critical obstacle for Rubio, Trump said, “No, it’s not.”
“But it makes things more complicated. It makes things more complicated. Some people don’t see that complexity,” the former president added.
Trump’s use of the word “complicated” three times in his response may be potentially telling.
Burgum has been Trump’s main surrogate since the governor endorsed the former president in January, a month after Trump ended his own White House bid.
“I think Doug is great,” Trump said of Burgum..
Former President Donald Trump listens to North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum speak during the Caucus Commitment Rally on January 14, 2024 in Indianola, Iowa. (Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images)
But when asked about North Dakota’s six-week abortion ban, which the governor signed into law last year, Trump said it was a “bit of a problem.”
Trump, who has opposed federal abortion bans, drawing the ire of social conservative and evangelical leaders, said North Dakota’s law was “a pretty strong ban.”
But Burgum has repeatedly said in recent interviews that abortion should be left to states, a position he agrees with Trump on.
Vance has been a leading ally of President Trump in the Senate and is considered a rising star among the former president’s MAGA base.
But a conservative website reported Tuesday Bulwark He suggested Vance’s facial hair could be an issue, given President Trump’s reported dislike of facial hair.
Former President Donald Trump and then-Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance address supporters during a rally at Dayton International Airport on Nov. 7, 2022, in Vandalia, Ohio. (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
When asked about the reports, Trump replied, “No, I’ve never heard of that.”
“He looks good,” Trump said of Vance. “He looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.”
“I think I have my mind made up” about his decision, Trump told Kilmeade.
Regarding the timing, Trump reiterated, “I would definitely like to do it during the convention. We’ve done it during conventions in the past, and it really livened up the convention. So, we’ll consider that.”
Haley urges delegates to support Trump
Trump was interviewed the morning after Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, called on all delegates to next week’s party convention to support the former president.
“The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity.” Haley said: “We encourage our delegates to support Donald Trump in Milwaukee next week,” they said in a statement Tuesday.
Former South Carolina Governor and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced that she will not be campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, on March 6, in Charleston, South Carolina. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Haley Presidential Election She announced her candidacy for president last February, becoming the first major candidate to challenge Trump, who had announced his candidacy three months earlier. She was Trump’s final rival, battling the former president in a fierce two-candidate showdown from the New Hampshire primary in late January through Super Tuesday in early March before withdrawing.
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Hailey has no plans to attend. Next week’s tournamentan aide told Fox News.
“She wasn’t invited, and she’s OK with that,” said Haley aide Cheney Denton. “Trump deserves the convention he wants. She has made it clear she will be voting for Trump and wishes him the best.”
When asked by Kilmeade if he wanted Haley to attend the convention, Trump replied: “I don’t know. I’ll give it a thought.”
But, he added, “There’s a lot of ill will there and she stayed there too long.”
“She dropped out right after Iowa. She should have dropped out right after Iowa,” Trump said, pointing to another former candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who dropped out three days before the New Hampshire primary.
“She just wouldn’t leave,” Trump added. “Where she made the mistake was she kept going.”
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