Former President Trump is using the selection process for his running mate to build a group of representatives willing to support him and repeat his points while he is occupied in a Manhattan courtroom.
As potential vice presidents compete for Trump’s attention and approval, they are appearing on TV and endorsing his candidacy while criticizing President Biden.
Republican Sens. Tim Scott (S.C.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) as well as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), who are among those being considered for Trump’s running mate, appeared on Sunday political shows hoping to catch the former president's attention.
Trump himself confirmed the strategy in an interview on Tuesday. Allies said the former president is likely to prolong his selection process to keep the long list of contenders competing for the role.
“They’re all out there campaigning,” Trump told Spectrum News 1 in Wisconsin. “It might actually be more effective this way because, you know, every one of them thinks they could be chosen, which I guess possibly is so — but we have a lot of people, we have a lot of great representatives out … really great representatives, many of them are being considered for VP.”
Trump, the presumed GOP nominee for president, has maintained a growing shortlist of potential vice presidential candidates that includes Scott, Rubio, Burgum, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), among others.
The former president has been secretive about whom he prefers as his running mate, minimizing its potential impact on November’s election and indicating he may not make an announcement until close to the Republican National Convention scheduled for mid-July.
That has left those competing for the vice presidential slot to do what they can to stay in Trump’s favor and get his attention to gain an advantage over the competition. In many cases, that means going on television, where Trump is often watching.
“Everyone right now is very aware of what Trump thinks of things, and there’s no doubt he sees almost everything,” Sean Spicer, who served as one of Trump’s White House press secretaries, told The Hill. “It’s basically having a conversation with him.”
It also gives them an opportunity to be prominent while Trump spends up to four days a week in a courtroom during his hush money trial in New York and away from the cameras.
Scott, the South Carolina senator who is seen as one of the stronger contenders to join the GOP ticket, repeatedly declined to commit to accepting the 2024 election results no matter who wins during a “Meet the Press” interview on Sunday. That appearance came days after Trump himself hedged over whether he would accept the election results.
Vance, another potential VP front-runner, last week downplayed Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and said he was skeptical then-Vice President Mike Pence’s life was ever in danger. Trump has similarly minimized the violence of Jan. 6 throughout his 2024 campaign.
Burgum appeared on CNN on Sunday to criticize the secret money trial in New York and support some of Trump’s controversial remarks at a donor retreat the day before, including one where he compared the Biden administration to the Gestapo. compared the Biden administration to the Gestapo.
It's helpful for Trump to have supporters speaking on TV at this time when he is in court facing charges of falsifying business records over a secret payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels during the last days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Each day, Trump talks to reporters before and after court, often making the same complaints that he is not able to be on the campaign trail and that the case is politically motivated. He has used his free time from the trial to campaign on a small scale, holding rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan and spending the rest of his time golfing and hosting private fundraisers.
Political strategists and Trump's supporters believe it would be smart for Trump to continue delaying the vice-presidential selection process while the Manhattan case is ongoing.
“Right now, he won't make a selection because he's in court, and he needs everyone to be as strong a supporter as possible for him,” said a Republican strategist. “And honestly, it's a good test while everyone is in competition.”
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has indicated he would be open to a role in a future Trump administration, compared the ongoing veepstakes to Trump’s career before politics.
“I believe Trump will handle this like ‘The Apprentice,’” McCarthy said Tuesday at the Milken Institute Conference. “He’s going to play it out. He’s going to make you join [Truth Social] … And whoever you think’s in the lead, somebody’s going to come up from behind. It’s going to make great television.”
