Donald Trump to announce todayfirst day of the Milwaukee convention, the vice presidential candidate he chose. For days the American media have been repeating that by now the list has been narrowed down to three namesall male: Senators J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio and Governor Doug Burgum.
J.D. Vance
The only one of Trump’s chosen candidates to win a Senate seat in Ohio in the last midterm elections, the 39-year-old entrepreneur, a Yale graduate who became famous with the best-selling novel Hillbilly Elegy, in which he recounted his working-class childhood in the Midwest. He once called himself a never Trumper, that is, a Republican opponent of the tycoon, but then became an enthusiastic supporter of the former president, obtaining his endorsement for his candidacy for the Senate in 2022.
Vance said he believes he could help a new Trump administration more from the Senate, but said he was ready “to help in any way I can.” Trump recently denied a rumor that the tycoon had ruled out Vance’s candidacy because of his beard, given the former president’s known aversion to beards and mustaches.
Doug Burgum
In his second term as governor of North Dakota, the 67-year-old Republican was one of Trump’s primary challengers, soon withdrawing, faced with poor results, and giving his endorsement to the former president. Having become a billionaire with a software startup later sold to Microsoft, Burgum has also expressed negative opinions about Trump in the past, saying in 2023 that he would never do business with the tycoon because “you are judged by the type of company you run.”
A proponent of tax cuts and spending, and conservative on abortion and other social issues, Burgum appeals to Trump for his restrained behavior and political savvy, the same attributes that led him to choose Mike Pence in 2016. Trump himself has admitted, however, that the near-total abortion ban in North Dakota that Burgum has supported could be “a little bit of a problem.”
“I think Doug is great, but he’s taken a very tough position,” the former president said in a recent interview, even though Burgum is among those within the Republican Party who believe that the abortion issue should be handled by the states and has proposed that the party platform not include a proposal for a nationwide ban on abortion, which could backfire electorally.
Mark Rubio
Trump and the Cuban-born senator from Florida dueled for a long time during the 2016 Republican primaries, but after his electoral victory eight years ago, Rubio became a great ally of the tycoon, and in this new race for the White House he immediately gave him his endorsement.
The son of working-class Cubans who fled to the U.S., the 53-year-old Republican – whose name was floated in 2012 as a possible veep for Mitt Romney, who eventually chose Paul Ryan – could be very useful to Trump in attracting the Latino vote, not to mention the fact that he is much younger and telegenic. Rubio’s odds in the running for vice president were boosted by the senator’s appearance on stage at a Trump rally in Florida last week. “He’s very good, Marco was extraordinary last night, very popular, certainly the kind of guy people listen to,” Trump said.
Rubio’s possible choice, however, would create a procedural problem, since the Constitution provides that in the Electoral College each state must cast its electoral votes for at least one candidate, president or vice president, who is not a resident of that state. The fact is that both Rubio and now Trump are residents of Florida, and therefore the state’s 30 crucial votes could be at risk. The problem is however easily circumvented by a change of residence, as Dick Cheney did in 2000 by transferring it from Texas, the same state as George Bush, to Wyoming. Trump has stated that this does not exclude Rubio from the list of candidates even if it “makes things more complicated”.
Rubio, however, has reportedly been told that he will not be running for vice president, CNN reports, citing two sources familiar with the Florida senator’s candidacy for ‘veep’. Trump has made his choice, the sources say, and will introduce his vice presidential candidate on stage at the convention in Milwaukee today. North Dakota Governor Burgum has also reportedly been informed that he will not be running for vice president, a source told Fox News.
“The governor supports Trump and his ‘running mate,’ whoever that is,” a Republican source close to Burgum told CNN, who was briefed on the developments in a phone call while staying at a hotel near the convention center.
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