As US President Joe Biden finds himself on the back foot and with all attention on Trump, speculation gains steam over the former president's VP pick, with a few contenders, including the likes of his ex-wife pitching in and "open" to the idea of serving as his
running mate
. However,
Donald Trump
on Wednesday hinted that he is "well set" in his mind and will announce his decision within the next week, expressing his desire to make the announcement at the first GOP convention.
The frontrunners reportedly on the former president's mind are JD Vance,
Doug Burgum
, Marco Rubio, and Tim Scott. However, talking to
Fox News Radio
host
Brian Kilmeade
, the former president said, “I think I’m pretty well set in my own mind. But, you know, you got some good people. And I have changed a little bit.”
Earlier on Wednesday, former national security adviser John Bolton said that above all, "personal loyalty" would be Trump's top priority in his selection, given his claims of a "stolen election" and the actions of Mike Pence that followed. “I think the highest priority is absolute personal loyalty to him, and I’m afraid the vice presidential interview questionnaire has only two questions on it,” Bolton said.
Trump commented on Burgum signing one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, which only allows exceptions for rape and incest before the first six weeks of pregnancy, calling it "a little bit of an issue." He acknowledged the ban's severity and said, "I think Doug is great. He’s taken a pretty strong stance — or the state has. I don’t know if it’s Doug but the state has. So it’s an issue."
Trump also mentioned potential complications with the
12th Amendment
if he chose Rubio as his running mate, since both reside in Florida and could not both receive Electoral College votes from the state’s 30 electoral votes. “You do that and it makes it more complicated. There are people that don’t have that complication. Now it’s fairly easily fixed but you have to do something with delegates or there has to be a resignation,” Trump said.
“So it’s not like picking some people where it’s very easy, where there is none of that. Taking delegates is a very risky thing to do.”
Regarding Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities, Trump stated that this would not impact his decision on a
vice president
. “I don’t care if it’s him or somebody else,” Trump said about Biden being the Democratic nominee. “And these radical Democrats are all radical. Everyone that they’re talking about is a radical left lunatic. And whether it’s Biden or whether it’s somebody else, I think it’s the same.”
English (US) ·