Former President Donald Trump has had the GOP nomination locked up for almost a month, but his list of possible running mates has yet to shrink.
Several names have been floated to be Trump’s partner of choice, from Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) to Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), but it appears that the list has grown, rather than shrunk, as the Republican National Convention inches closer. Trump reportedly likes the large competition to be his vice presidential pick.
The Washington Post reported that Trump adviser Jason Miller argued the somewhat public contest to be Trump’s running mate can help get people to work for the campaign while the former president continues to make up his mind.
A Republican consultant said the contest to be Trump’s running mate is like a revival of NBC’s reality competition show The Apprentice, which Trump hosted for 14 of its 15 seasons from 2004 until 2015.
“This is ‘The Apprentice: 2024 version,’” GOP consultant Terry Sullivan said. “Donald Trump is nothing if not a showman, and he loves this process, and he’s going to drag it out and get as much media coverage and goodwill and leverage it as much as humanly possible.”
There have been multiple reports about who has an edge as Trump’s favorite any given week, but the campaign insisted that no decisions have been made about who will be on Trump’s ticket in November.
Last month, a Bloomberg report suggested possible names for a Trump Cabinet if he is elected in November. The report listed Vivek Ramaswamy as a possible Homeland Security secretary and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), among others. Among the vice presidential candidates, Scott was listed as one person Trump has not ruled out.
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Trump announced his running mate for his 2016 presidential campaign, Mike Pence, days ahead of the 2016 Republican National Convention and will likely do so again ahead of the 2024 convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 15 to 18.
Pence, whom Trump has been at odds with since he defied the former president’s demands to reject the 2020 election results at a joint session of Congress to certify the election, has been ruled out as Trump’s 2024 running mate.
