A reliable source who I have known for more than five years and who enjoys unique access to former president Donald Trump’s thinking told me in confidence on Tuesday that Mr. Trump has decided on J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate. Vance, 39, is in his first term as the junior senator from Ohio. He has been widely mentioned recently as one of three top possibilities for President Trump’s running mate this year.
Senator J.D. Vance (Courtesy of Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, unaltered)
The other two leading candidates are Douglas Burgum, 67, a wealthy entrepreneur who has been the governor of North Dakota since 2016, and Sen. Marco Rubio, 53, the senior senator from Florida who has served in that legislative body since 2011.
In a live telephone interview with FOX News television and radio host Brian Kilmeade on Kilmeade’s nationally syndicated radio show on Wednesday, Trump hinted that Vance might be acceptable even though he has facial hair that Trump reportedly disapproves of. (Two of Trump’s sons, Don, Jr. and Eric, currently sport facial hair.)
After dispatches circulated about Trump’s reported disdain for facial hair, which campaign advisers poked fun at, Trump dismissed the idea that Vance’s facial hair would complicate his chances of earning the No. 2 spot.
From a transcript of Kilmeade’s radio show provided by FOX News media relations.
KILMEADE: On your vice president’s candidate, word is that you won’t pick J.D. Vance because of his facial hair. Is that -- is that true? . . .
TRUMP: Looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.
CNN reported on July 11 at 3 AM ET that Trump may be disinclined to select Gov. Burgum because of the latter’s stand on prohibiting abortion. Last year, Burgum signed a law in North Dakota banning almost all abortions. Trump lately has been moving more to the center on the delicate issue of abortion “rights” in an attempt to broaden his appeal to women and independent voters, many of whom are hung up on the issue of a number of state’s abortion bans in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision tossing out the Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Kilmeade asked Trump about Burgum and his position on abortion on Wednesday.
KILMEADE: . . .Doug -- Doug Burgum . . . on abortion in North Dakota, he signed something -- legislation handed him. Does that hurt him?
TRUMP: Well, it’s a little bit of an issue. It’s a pretty strong ban, you know. I -- I think Doug is great. But it is a strong -- he's taken a very strong stance -- or the state has. I don’t know if it’s Doug, but the state has.
KILMEADE: Yeah.
TRUMP: It’s -- so it’s -- it’s an issue.
And in terms of Sen. Rubio?
KILMEADE: And lastly Marco Rubio.
TRUMP: Everything’s an issue.
KILMEADE: Marco Rubio and being from Florida, would that stop you from -- from picking him?
TRUMP: No, but it does make it more complicated. You know, you do that and it makes it more complicated. There are people that don’t have that complication [emphasis added].
Now, it’s fairly easily fixed, but you have to do something with delegates or there has to be a resignation, you know, et cetera, et cetera. So it’s not like picking some people where it’s very easy where there is none of that. Florida meaning two people can't be running on the same ticket. You actually can, but they take delegates and taking delegates is, you know, a very risky thing to do, right?
According to media reports, Trump’s choice for his VP running mate will be announced at the latest on Monday morning, July 15 – the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
If the choice is in fact J.D. Vance, you can say that you heard it first here at American Thinker. If someone else is selected, well, mea culpa.
Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who has covered national politics and other topics for over five decades. His most recent interview on BBC Radio in the U.K. can be listened to here. His web page with links to his work and a bio is http://peter.media. Peter’s extensive American Thinker archive: http://tinyurl.com/pcathinker. His Twitter account is @pchowka.