At a campaign event in Detroit, Michigan, former President Donald Trump (R) hinted at selecting Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) as his running mate. Rep. Donalds has appeared on President Trump’s VP shortlist for quite a while, but recent comments from the former Commander-in-Chief have raised some eyebrows.
Congressman Byron Donalds (Rep-FL) comments on him being a candidate for Trump’s Vice President. Who do you want as VP? pic.twitter.com/BUoNtGc5Hw
— • ᗰISᑕᕼIᗴᖴ ™ • (@4Mischief) June 17, 2024
During the event, President Trump stated, “Byron Donalds is an incredible guy. I noticed he happens to be on the list of potential vice presidents. Would anybody like to see him as a vice president?”
He then turned to his right where Rep. Donalds was sitting and said, “I notice your name is very high on the list, that’s good. You should be on the list.”
Rep. Donalds responded to these comments from Trump on Fox News and was asked if the Trump campaign had contacted him about possibly appearing on the ticket with Trump.
“Maybe, maybe not. I'm not going to tell you guys that. I’m going to keep that to myself. You know, look, I think President Trump's going to make a great decision but obviously it's his decision and his decision alone. I'm just going to do my job, campaign for him, work hard for him because the country needs him back as president. It's that simple. We'll see what happens by the time we get to the convention,” said Rep. Doanlds.
When asked if he’s been vetted as a potential candidate by the campaign, Donalds jokingly responded, “Oh, you guys don’t stop with the questions – Maybe. That’s my answer, maybe.”
He was then asked about the possibility of changing residencies or resigning from his seat in the House (due to the rules of the Constitution possibly not allowing a President and Vice President from the same state), Donalds stated that he’d cross that bridge if he came upon it.
“We've been down this road before I think the last time was with Dick Cheney and George W. Bush. And so I think we would have to look at our residency and figure out how you manage that. But you know, at that point. The question is, are you going to agree to join the President and ticket and work hard through the next couple of months to win back the White House, I find that to be a tremendous honor. So, when that decision has to be made, I'll make it accordingly and we'll move forward.”
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has also been a hot name for the vice presidency opening. However, the Florida Senator told The Floridian that he hasn’t been in contact with the Trump campaign concerning a vice presidency position.
“I’ve never spoken to Donald Trump or anyone in his campaign about it. I think there is only one person on planet Earth who knows who the VP is going to be, and he hasn’t told anyone yet. I’m in the Senate because I want to serve the country, to be Vice President is to serve the country at an even higher level, to have direct influence over decisions, input over decisions to be made at that level to be supportive of the President of the United States,” said Rubio.
Rubio echoed his belief that being considered to vice president should be “honored” while taking a not-so-subtle shot at Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I think anyone considered for that should be honored by it, but no one has ever talked to me about it, and I can just tell you that Trump is going to have a lot of good people to pick from. The Democrats are stuck with Kamala Harris,” added Rubio. “We have 15 people off the top of my head that I can list that will be 50 times better than Kamala Harris, so we’re in good shape.”
Furthermore, Trump spoke to Fox News following his closed-door meetings with House and Senate Republicans on Thursday. During that conversation, Aishah Hasnie questioned the former president on who would potentially appear as the VP on the Trump ticket.
Since the Iowa Caucuses, Trump has stated that he already knew who would receive the coveted nod but has kept his cards close to his chest. When asked if his VP pick was in one of the closed-door meetings, he stated:
"Probably. I don't want to go, but I think (it) will probably get announced during the convention," Trump said. "During the convention. There were some good people and, we have some very good people."
