One of former President Donald Trump‘s vice presidential candidates is reportedly willing to go to considerable lengths to be selected.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said he would change his Florida residency in order to be former Trump’s vice president, according to the New York Times.
The decision would be in response to a constitutional conflict in which a president and vice president on the same ticket cannot share the same state of residency, or they may lose that state’s electoral votes. In Florida’s case, it’d be a critical 30.
Trump, who is also a resident of Florida, reportedly said he would not change his residency because Floridians would not want to see him leave. Earlier this month, Rubio’s office said the senator had not spoken about the topic with anyone from Trump’s campaign.
While Rubio could be the former president’s choice, others such as Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Ben Carson, and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) have been floated too. Rubio captured thousands more votes in his Senate race in 2016 than Trump did in the presidential race, leaving Trump to wonder how and reportedly piquing his interest in the senator.
That interest came despite the pair’s heated conflict in the Republican presidential primaries that same year, with Trump repeatedly calling Rubio “little Marco” in reference to his height. Rubio would go on to finish third in delegates in the 2016 Republican primary.
Rubio could provide a boost for Trump in Florida, though he’s already favored to win the state and help his appeal to more centrist voters who rejected Trump earlier in the year.
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“Marco Rubio would win Donald Trump the White House in November,” David Jolly, a former House representative for Florida, told the news outlet. “He’s the perfect proxy for [Nikki] Haley voters; he speaks to Trumpism without trying to be Trump, and he’s been mature and sober. He’s a star; he’s just been a quiet star lately.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Rubio for comment.
