Posted
June 27, 2024 at 5:27 PM EDT
Christopher Evans
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MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
Trump has been hinting for months that he knows who his running mate will be, fueling speculation and (ever-shrinking) shortlists.
The former president even told NBC News over the weekend that the person he has in mind will “most likely” be in attendance, although there will be no studio audience.
“They’ll be there,” he said. “I think we have a lot of people coming.”
Trump has previously said he’ll announce his VP pick during the Republican National Convention in mid-July.
Some of the top contenders, as NPR has reported, include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Other possible picks include some of Trump’s former primary rivals, like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Many of those elected officials have made the cable TV rounds in recent weeks to sing Trump’s praises.
It’s a fitting form of vetting for a presidential candidate who rose to fame in part as the host of a reality show competition — and for a VP who will likely get a lot of airtime.
The stakes for the VP slot are high, especially since Trump has been the de-facto Republican nominee since the race started. His second-in-command will shape the future of the MAGA movement and potentially woo harder-to-reach voting blocs, like moderates.
Choosing a vice president generally comes down to strategy. NPR’s Ron Elving says Trump’s likely priorities should be doing no harm, followed by creating some form of unity in the Republican Party.
“Trump doesn’t need any more controversy,” Elving adds. “He doesn’t need anybody who carries any baggage of his own or her own.”
Read more from Elving about the stakes of VP selection over the decades — and how Trump is putting his spin on a familiar storyline.
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