President Trump is narrowing his choices for a running mate in November and is focused on three young U.S. senators, according to a GOP strategist with close ties to the campaign.
Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, J.D. Vance of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida are the top choices, Ryan Girdusky, a GOP strategist and conservative blogger, said.
Not included on the shortlist: South Dakota Gov, Kristi. Noem, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, or his former press secretary Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Neither Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis nor Mr. Trump’s recently vanquished GOP primary opponent, Nikki Haley, are under consideration.
“He certainly tells a lot of people they’re on the list. But I have been told fairly confidently by very top people that they are not on the list — that the list is just those three,” Mr. Girdusky said.
The VP choice could be one of the most critical decisions made by the former president.
Mr. Trump is limited to one more term. If he wins in November, whomever he picks as his running mate stands the best chance of becoming the Republican nominee in the 2028 presidential race.
SEE ALSO: RNC members gather in Houston to elect new leaders, cement Trump’s grip on the party
Mr. Trump’s campaign team brushed off the shortlist claim.
“That is trash,” said Chris LaCivita, senior adviser to the Trump campaign. “Anyone who claims that they know or that they have heard is a damn liar.”
But Mr. Girdusky’s shortlist makes sense, said others connected to the Trump campaign.
Ms. Britt, 42, took office in 2023 but her star is rising quickly. A longtime aide to retired Sen. Richard Shelby, her good looks, intelligence and deep understanding of the Senate appeal to the Trump team.
Republican leaders in Congress chose her to deliver the GOP’s response to President Biden’s State of the Union address. Ms. Britt’s clean-cut, conservative image and family — she’s married to former NFL player Wesley Britt — make her an attractive choice.
Mr. Trump, a person connected to the campaign said, “will be paying very close attention,” to her performance Thursday and the public’s response to her national debut.
“She is always someone who has had a good, dark-horse shot,” to be picked as Trump’s running mate, the person said. Ms. Britt’s office did not provide a comment.
Mr. Rubio, 52, has long been a favorite choice for Mr. Trump. According to those connected to the campaign, the former president wanted him as his running mate in 2016. At the time, Mr. Rubio allegedly rejected an invitation to discuss it.
While he was once a Trump critic, Mr. Rubio long ago became an unwavering supporter and said he would support the former president for a second term as far back as 2021.
He endorsed Mr. Trump in January, snubbing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was still running for the GOP nomination at the time.
Picking Mr. Rubio, whose parents came to the United States from Cuba, would also put a Hispanic on the ticket as Mr. Trump seeks to peel away minority voters from Mr. Biden.
However, the Constitution prevents the Electoral College from voting for a president and vice president from the same state, though there is no law against it.
Mr. Rubio has said he is not interested in being vice president.
Mr. Vance, 39, took office in 2023, along with Ms. Britt. A vocal Trump critic in 2016, he has since fully embraced the MAGA political movement and become a staunch Mr. Trump ally.
Mr. Vance has said he’s not interested in the VP slot, but he would be a deeply appealing choice for Mr. Trump. The two are ideologically aligned around populist conservatism. And Mr. Vance has gone further than most other Republicans in defending Mr. Trump’s efforts to stop Congress from certifying Mr. Biden’s victory in 2020.
“If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there,” Mr. Vance told ABC News last month.
Other contenders for vice president have tread more carefully around Mr. Trump’s actions following the 2020 election, which also resulted in state and federal charges now tied up in the courts.
The former president is said to be unhappy with Mr. Scott’s assertion that Mr. Pence “absolutely” did the right thing when he certified the election for Mr. Biden and ignored Mr. Trump’s demand that he block it.
Mr. Trump, according to Mr. Girdusky, is less enthusiastic about Ms. Sanders because she publicly threw her support behind his presidential campaign in November — eight months after he asked for her endorsement.
Mr. Girdusky said he believes Mr. Trump will ultimately choose Mr. Vance to serve as his running mate, a prediction many political strategists have also made. Mr. Vance’s aides declined to comment.
In an interview with Fox News in January, Mr. Trump said whoever he picks will not impact the race. Most expect he’ll hold off announcing his choice until the Republican National Convention in July.
“It’s never really had that much of an effect on an election,” Mr. Trump said.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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