As former President Donald Trump narrows down his running mate contenders, a former administration official said he may only be able to ask each candidate two questions before making a decision.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Trump said Tuesday that he believes the most important questions for Republican hopefuls are, “Number one, do you believe the 2020 election was stolen? And number two, ‘If I told you to do what you told Mike Pence to do on January 6th, would you do it?'”
The three candidates vying for the Republican vice presidential nomination are widely reported to be Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, with Vance and Burgum considered the front-runners, and Rubio the longshot.
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Former President Trump’s running mate field appears to have been narrowed down to three candidates: North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. (Left: Joe Raedl/Getty Images, Center: Luke Charette/Getty Images via Bloomberg, Right: Saul Martinez/Getty Images)
The former Cabinet members said that answering correctly could raise the standing of these nominees in Trump’s eyes, even at the personal cost, “and answering ‘yes’ to both of these questions would seriously undermine the integrity of these nominees,” Bolton said.
“I think your No. 1 priority is absolute loyalty to Trump,” Bolton said of Trump, reminding viewers that while former Vice President Mike Pence had pledged loyalty to the former president, he was the only senior administration official to stand up to Trump when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and say “Trump did the right thing, even when others failed.”
“To be honest with you, I don’t know if any of them can do that,” he said of the current running mates.
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Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a Buckeye Values PAC rally in Vandalia, Ohio on March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump has hinted that he will announce his running mate at next week’s Republican National Convention, and the former president even said he has a pretty good idea who his running mate will be.
Bolton doesn’t think his former boss should be making the announcement at next week’s Republican National Convention while Biden’s campaign is still grappling with questions of Biden’s mental health and ability to lead the country, let alone defeat his predecessor in the general election.
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“Nothing will be announced at the Republican National Convention except the vice presidential nominee. Why waste it on a week when Democrats may still be debating whether Joe Biden is eligible to be president,” Bolton said.
It is widely believed that either Vance or Burgum will be chosen to replace the former president, but Bolton warned: “The thing to remember with Trump is that it’s not decided until it’s decided, and even when it’s decided, some things are still not decided.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign.
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