Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) attended a campaign rally in Florida with former President Trump on Thursday. Senator Rubio has emerged as one of the final candidates to be former President Trump’s running mate.
Rubio addressed the crowd well before Trump took the stage, attacking President Biden and Vice President Harris and questioning whether Biden is fit to remain in office.
Trump mentioned Rubio multiple times during his speech, directly acknowledging speculation that he might choose the senator as his vice president.
At one point, Trump turned his attention to all the media in attendance at the Doral rally and said, “They’re probably thinking I’m going to announce that Marco is going to be my vice president.”
Later in the rally, Trump spoke to Rubio, highlighting his intention to end tip taxes on service workers.
“Marco, I hope that you’re going to vote in favor. Well, I don’t know if you’re going to show up to vote, but you’re going to be involved,” Trump said.
Sources told The Hill that the former president is eyeing Rubio, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R-North Dakota) as the top candidates for the vice presidential spot, but Rubio and Vance are reportedly at the center of the discussions.
Trump is expected to announce his choice before the Republican National Convention begins next Monday, but the former president has said he may wait until the convention itself to make an announcement.
Vance and Rubio said Sunday they had not heard anything about whether they had been Trump’s nominee.
Rubio’s supporters argue the senator could help Trump expand his support among minority voters, weaken President Biden’s base and tip battleground states in Trump’s favor.
But Rubio and Trump were bitter rivals in the 2016 presidential election, and Rubio would have had to move outside Florida to join the running mate list.
