South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s prospects of becoming former President Donald Trump’s running mate seem to have faded, while speculation has grown that Trump could tap North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among a long and shifting list.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the SNHU Arena on January 20, 2024 ... [+]
Trump has eliminated Lake from his shortlist, The Washington Post reported, citing five unnamed sources who said Trump has expressed annoyance and frustration with Lake and has sought to distance himself from her, concerned that she will lose the Arizona Senate race and he’ll be associated with her loss.
Trump has shown heightened interest in Burgum, hosting he and his wife at Mar-a-Lago on Easter, Axios reported, citing four sources familiar with the situation who said Trump has brought up Burgum’s name repeatedly in recent weeks as someone who has little baggage and the ability to attract moderate voters.
Trump met with DeSantis in Miami, The Washington Post reported, raising speculation he could be in the running, though the meeting was reportedly about enlisting DeSantis’ donor network to help Trump and burying the hatchet after Trump repeatedly attacked DeSantis while he was still in the presidential race.
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” he has “never spoken to [Trump] about being vice president,” despite his name commonly being floated among the press and pundits as a potential pick, adding that he would “have to think seriously about it” if Trump asked him to be his running mate.
Noem, who Trump previously said was a “solid” potential pick, admitted in her new book that she shot and killed her family’s “untrainable” and “dangerous” 14-month-old puppy, Cricket, then turned her gun on one of her “nasty and mean” goats, The Guardian reported after obtaining an advanced copy of the book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” drawing bipartisan outrage and effectively tanking her VP chances.
Trump was considering Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, NBC reported, while Rubio told Politico in response to the report he hasn’t “spoken to anybody” in Trump’s campaign about the prospect, but called it “an honor and an incredible opportunity.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was also “absolutely” on Trump’s shortlist, the former president told Fox News during an interview alongside the Texas governor at the southern border, but Abbott subsequently told Austin NBC affiliate KXAN he is committed to running for reelection in two years and is “staying in Texas.”
Trump mentioned his former GOP primary opponents DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., along with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Noem and former Democratic-turned-independent Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii, when asked about his potential running mates, telling Fox News during a town hall “they’re all solid,” while singling out Scott, who was in the audience, as a “great advocate.”
Trump name-dropped South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., one of the first members of Congress to endorse him and a staunch promoter of his unfounded election fraud claims, calling her a “killer” when asked about his potential running mate picks at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in December, NBC News reported.
Trump told Fox Business in January the top criteria for a VP pick is someone who could “be a good president . . . in case of emergency,” adding that he won’t announce a decision for “a little while.”
Donald Trump Jr. made the longshot suggestion in January that his father could tap former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, telling Newsmax, “I would love to see that happen.” Trump has also fanned the Carlson rumors, telling podcast hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton in November, “I guess I would consider him.” Carlson, who once texted a confidant that he “hate[s Trump] passionately,” has since rekindled his relationship with the former president, interviewing him in a counter-program that aired during the first GOP primary debate Trump snubbed and endorsing him for president. Carlson, however, has dismissed the possibility of serving as Trump’s running mate, telling Megyn Kelly in a podcast interview last month a career in politics was “unimaginable.”
Several of the candidates have clear downsides. Rubio and DeSantis would draw the same base of home-state voters as Trump, as they’re all from Florida, something Rubio mentioned when asked by Fox News in January about the prospect of joining Trump’s ticket. Stefanik represents a solidly blue state that Trump almost certainly can’t win. Trump has openly feuded with Ramaswamy on the campaign trail, urging his supporters not to vote for him and declaring he “is not MAGA” just days before the Iowa caucuses. He also disparaged DeSantis for months, casting him as disloyal for running against him and coining the nickname “DeSanctimonious” to refer to his one-time protégé. Lake comes with significant baggage as she has refused to acknowledge she lost the Arizona gubernatorial race following a campaign centered on Trump’s own 2020 election fraud claims. And Scott broke with Trump’s GOP allies in Congress and voted to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, dropped out of the GOP presidential race in October, and has had a frayed relationship with his former boss after Trump urged him not to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Pence has claimed Trump asked him to “choose between him and the Constitution.” Trump has countered that Pence is “delusional.”
Two sources cited by NBC said Trump is considering announcing his running mate in June. One anonymous Trump adviser quoted by the outlet cautioned “the list is long, and it’s extremely early in any kind of process,” adding “no one has been directly reached out to yet, and I do not expect that for some time.”
Trump and President Joe Biden clinched their respective parties’ nominations on March 12, making the 2024 primary season one of the shortest in decades. The Republican National Committee is set to formalize Trump’s nomination at its convention in Milwaukee in July, and the Democratic National Committee will hold its convention in Chicago in August.