Many of former President Donald Trump’s running mate hopefuls—including Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum—are in Atlanta to attend Thursday’s debate, and his VP pick is likely among them.
Technicians complete final preparations prior to the CNN Presidential Debate between U.S. President ... [+]
Rubio, Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N,Y., Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson posed for a photo with other Republicans, flashing thumbs-up signs, that Stefanik posted to her X account and captioned “on our way to the debate!”
Burgum and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., another VP prospect, will also be in the spin room, CNN reported.
Trump’s former primary challenger, Vivek Ramaswamy, also tweeted a photo of himself speaking to reporters from CNN’s Atlanta studios where the debate will take place.
Politicos were closely watching which of Trump’s running mate contenders would attend the Thursday face-off after Trump said over the weekend he had settled on a running mate and the person would likely be in the audience.
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There will be no live studio audience at the CNN debate, which begins at 9 p.m. ET, and the candidates will not be allowed to interact with anyone during commercial breaks or while they’re on the stage. But the VP contenders, and Trump’s allies, are on hand to speak to reporters before and after the event in what’s known as the “spin room.”
Melania Trump, who has largely shied away from publicly supporting her husband’s second presidential campaign, had yet to be seen in Atlanta when the debate kicked off at 9 p.m. ET, and it’s unclear whether she’ll attend.
Trump is expected to announce his running mate pick in the coming weeks, and has said he’ll probably unveil his selection at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee July 15-18. Burgum, Vance, Rubio and Scott are reportedly at the top of the list and have received formal vetting materials from the campaign, multiple outlets have reported. Trump has made no indications who he’s settled on, and has name-dropped every top contender, plus some wildcards, at some point in the past several months.
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