Trump Campaign Narrows VP Search Down To 7 Contenders, Report Claims

The field of contestants on what may perhaps be former President Donald Trump’s final reality show has winnowed to seven as he and aides parse out who will join him on the ticket in November.

The Trump campaign in recent days has asked a number of high-profile Republicans for background documents, according to ABC News, typically the first step in vetting candidates under serious consideration. The escalation indicates who’s in and who’s out with the mercurial leader these days. Among those asked: North Dakota’s Governor Doug Burgum, who joined Trump outside his Manhattan trial and has stumped for him in a number of swing states.

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Also on the shortlist are GOP Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and J.D. Vance (R-OH), sources told the outlet. Outreach to both came while President Trump was bogged down with his trial. Others who were asked for some level of background information include Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Further parlor talk about whom might be at the front of the pack is nothing more, said an aide to Trump who added the final decision would be his.

“Anyone claiming to know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying, unless the person is named Donald J. Trump,” Brian Hughes, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, told ABC.

As recently as Wednesday, members of the exclusive club were denying they knew anything about Trump’s vice presidential musings. “I haven’t talked to them about vice president,” Sen. Rubio told the outlet. Trump himself has suggested an announcement will come closer to the Republican National Convention in July when he is slated to officially receive the GOP endorsement to take on President Joe Biden.

Burgum and Scott competed with Trump for the nomination, dropping out last year as the field winnowed and the former president consolidated support thanks in part to expansive media attention from his ongoing criminal trials; Rubio and Carson faced off against Trump in 2016.

Donalds has been one of the most steadfast supporters of President Trump, joining him on the campaign trail and pushing back forcefully in the mainstream media against allegations that Trump is perpetuating racist stereotypes when he credits his criminal trials with helping to draw support among Black Americans. The Florida congressman, who is Black, has reframed those questions to suggest that Black voters share Trump’s belief that the justice system works for some while unfairly punishing others.

Rep. Stefanik made headlines during her questioning of several Ivy League university presidents who testified about ongoing college protests in support of Palestinians that veered into open antisemitism. Her sharp questions elicited milquetoast responses from the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, both of whom later resigned after receiving heavy criticism.

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