For months, the media-industrial complex has been churning out fruitless speculation about the vice presidential election, much of it generated by the aspiring candidates themselves.
Out of nowhere, these stories come out: Tom Cotton, the freakishly strong candidate! Ben Carson! Byron Donald! Glenn Youngkin! People you know who, no matter what qualifications they have, really have no chance of being Donald Trump’s running mate.
And the former president himself met with and campaigned with most of the candidates while watching their television interviews, in a style reminiscent of “The Apprentice.”
One particularly ridiculous moment came when Axios reported that Nikki Haley was “actively under consideration” for vice presidential running. The story fell apart the next day when Trump issued a statement saying Haley was definitely not being considered. This is not surprising, given the feud between the two and that she has not endorsed him.
Vice Presidential Frenzy: Candidates Dominate Media with Leaks and Manipulation
With the final stages of former President Trump’s vice presidential race underway, only three viable candidates remain: North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The reason most of the reports are uncertain is because Trump hadn’t made up his mind yet. Now, Trump says he has, but he hasn’t told the lucky candidate. Of course, there’s nothing to stop Trump from changing his mind at the last minute, as he is prone to do.
Still, with the vetting process underway and multiple media outlets reporting that it has been narrowed down to a lucky three, I’m inclined to take those stories more seriously.
The three are Marco Rubio, J.D. Vance and Doug Burgum.
Each brings strengths and weaknesses to the table, and these decisions often come down to who Trump feels most comfortable hanging out with. Eight years ago, the man who remained most loyal to Trump until Jan. 6 was Mike Pence.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance and Florida Senator Marco Rubio are all tipped to be potential running mates for President Trump in 2024. (Left: Joe Raedl/Getty Images, Center: Luke Charette/Getty Images via Bloomberg, Right: Saul Martinez/Getty Images)
Rubio, the only one with national stature, might be a no-brainer. Nominating the first Hispanic vice president would obviously excite that community, even if it’s not a monolith, and Cuban-Americans would be the most excited. I don’t think it’s a big deal that Florida’s senators are constitutionally barred from running two candidates from the same state, since they can easily change their address.
I’ve interviewed Rubio a few times and, more importantly, seen him speak at a town hall in 2016. He’s a charismatic speaker. He has a knack for foreign policy and has long since made amends with Trump over their mutual insults (“a conman”).
Rubio says being Trump’s running mate would be an ‘incredible honor’
His oratory skills will undoubtedly make him a talking point, but that’s also his downfall: Trump doesn’t like to hide in the shadows, and whether openly or privately, Rubio will be running for president in 2028 from day one.
Rubio has also vowed not to campaign, and, like the other candidates, did not attend Trump’s Manhattan trial, which has led some reports to suggest that Trump is questioning how badly Marco wants the post, but I think they just have different approaches.
Marco Rubio, a three-term senator from Florida who was Trump’s main rival in the 2016 primary and is now on the shortlist to be a running mate, will have to be careful about how much of Trump’s attention he tries to grab. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
J.D. Vance is a little-known senator who has been in office for less than two years. He gained public attention with his bestselling book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which drew widespread praise (and criticism) for its explanation of the type of white voter who helped propel Trump to victory. He’s also a success story, rising from a tough childhood in which his grandmother had to beg for more food from Meals on Wheels.
However, Vance opposed the former president in 2016, adopting a “never forgive Trump” stance (“he’s an idiot” and “he should be condemned”), a stance he conveniently abandoned when he ran for president.
Vance is arguably the sharpest intellect in this group, has been endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. and has one of the most pro-MAGA voting records, but his views on revolution differ from Trump’s. Two years ago, Vance said in an interview that Trump should “fire every mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, and replace them with our own people,” which, of course, would be a violation of civil service rules.
Senator J.D. Vance on VP Trump rumors: “The president didn’t ask me”
“I was confronted with the reality that one of the reasons anti-Trump conservatives hate Donald Trump is because he represents a threat to the way things are run in this country that has been so advantageous to them,” Vance told New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, who knew him before he became a writer.
As the Ohio senator recently told The Washington Post, “The price of being beloved by the establishment is having nothing interesting to say.”
And that’s exactly the problem: Vance will say a lot of funny things that will catch his boss’ attention.
J.D. Vance, the freshman Republican senator from Ohio and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” was once an ardent opponent of President Trump, but changed his tune after running for federal office and is now a finalist to be the former president’s running mate. (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
So that brings us to Doug Burgum. He’s the governor! He’s been the governor for eight years. Yes, the governor of a little state called North Dakota. Trump will win that state’s three electoral votes anyway, but the former president has spent a lot of time with him and really likes him, even though Burgum ran against him early in the presidential campaign.
For one thing, he’s the same billionaire who sold his tech company to Microsoft for $1 billion two decades ago. For another, he has an understated charm. And Burgum has “that look” — the commanding presence of a vice president — and Trump likes to welcome people who look like they came from central casting.
When I interviewed Mr. Burgum a few weeks ago, he said he underestimated his chances and had 12 ideas he would rather try in the private sector than take a Cabinet post. Mr. Burgum answered questions about issues with deft, timely responses, including the occasional snappy one-liner.
Burgum touts ‘closer’ relationship with Trump while supporting former President in battleground states
Having attended the Alvin Bragg case and read the media coverage of it afterwards, he told me, “I believe this was a different trial than the one I attended…The American people have already acquitted Donald Trump.”
But as one of my colleagues pointed out, he’s still raw and a rookie in the domestic game, so he looks like the real deal.
This mild-mannered gentleman also throws punches. “Under Joe Biden, we’re really living under a dictatorship right now. He’s ignoring Congress on immigration, he’s ignoring Congress on border protection, he’s ignoring Congress on student loan forgiveness, he’s ignoring the Supreme Court,” Burgum told Fox’s Martha MacCallum last week, an attack that has since reverberated.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum quickly rose to the top of former President Trump’s list of potential vice presidential candidates after running unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
So by a process of elimination, Burgum is the least problematic for Trump: He’s not going to run for president in four years, he’s not going to get a lot of attention from the president, and his chances are better than I thought at the time of the interview.
Subscribe to Howie’s Media Buzzmeter podcast for the hottest news stories of the day
Now, I should warn you that this reasonable analysis may be off the mark. Trump could, for example, pick Rubio, or pick someone not on his list of three, or he could change his mind at the last minute. How do we know, since there’s no way to verify who Trump is currently saying he’s picked?
A word on the timing of the announcement: Announcing a vice presidential nominee at a party convention has fallen out of favor for a number of reasons, but that nominee’s name is Dan Quayle. The media slammed George H.W. Bush’s pick, completely disrupting the convention by questioning everything from the senator’s intelligence to his past ethical issues.
When John McCain picked Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor and hockey mom was a huge hit at the convention. It wasn’t until later, when she was questioned by the likes of Katie Couric, that she was seen as inexperienced and ill-prepared.
Click here to get the FOX News app
So I expect Trump to announce his choice just before the party convention in Milwaukee and for the story to unfold before attention naturally shifts to the candidates.
But with Donald Trump, anything is possible.
