NEW YORK –
As former President Donald Trump remains trapped in the courtroom listening to salacious details of an affair he denies, another spectacle unfolds in the background as his vice presidential tryouts begin.
The dynamic was on display over the weekend at a closed-door fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club that served as an audition with a long list of potential running mates. Trump, at one point, invited many of the contestants on stage as contestants in one of his former beauty pageants. The next day, several of them, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, South Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. Marco Rubio and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, appeared on the news programs of the Sunday to sing their praises.
“This weekend, we had 15 people… They were all campaigning,” Trump told Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin on Tuesday. “Actually, it might be more effective this way because, you know, every one of them thinks they could get elected, which I guess they possibly are.”
The comments demonstrate why Trump is in no rush to choose his potential second-in-command or publicly rule out his options. For now, the presumptive Republican nominee is happy to bask in the attention while reporters weigh his options and potential candidates compete and court him in an “Apprentice”-style competition.
Trump has said he intends to make an announcement shortly before the Republican National Convention in July, as he did when he elected then-Indiana Governor Mike Pence in 2016.
“Ultimately, it’s up to him. He’ll intuitively decide who his vice president should be, listen to everyone up to that point and then decide,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of three finalists on Trump’s list. of 2016.
For candidates, he said, if Trump calls them and asks them to speak at a rally, “the correct answer is ‘yes.'” But its impact has limits.
“Some of them try to audition,” Gingrich said, “but I never thought it worked so well.”
For now, according to several people familiar with his thinking, Trump continues to mull a long list of candidates: governors, senators and members of Congress, including some who ran against him and lost. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss fundraising and private conversations. As Trump ponders his decision, he looks to see who can raise money, advocate effectively and perform at political events. He is especially interested in how they appear on television.
Part of what seems to have made the decision difficult is that many of the candidates being seriously considered have problems.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a leading potential contender, could help Trump win over Hispanic voters as well as establishment donors still wary of a second Trump term. But Rubio has a problem: he lives in Florida, the same state as Trump, which would violate the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution.
Trump himself has raised the issue, including at Saturday’s fundraising luncheon, where he said he liked Rubio, according to one of several people present, but noted the problem with his residence and called it a problem.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, a friend of Trump’s eldest son who has become close to the former president, is also considered a leading contender. He impressed Trump allies with an interview on CNN last week.
But Trump continues to point out that Vance was a critic before he became a supporter, something he mentioned again at Saturday’s event before praising Vance as a great senator.
Scott, who Trump has repeatedly joked is a much better surrogate than a candidate, also has drawbacks. Scott pressured Trump to support a 15-week national abortion ban during the GOP primary, and his election would bring new attention to something Trump has tried to eliminate as a campaign issue by insisting it should be left to the states.
Those problems could help a candidate like Burgum, a billionaire who has traveled extensively with Trump since he abandoned his own presidential bid.
Others seemed to test the limits of what it takes to be disqualified.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has faced a media storm since reports emerged that she wrote about the shooting death of a family dog in a book published this week. Ella Noem has also made mistakes, including falsely claiming that she once met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. She has continued to appear in interviews defending her actions, dragging out the plot for days.
Trump, in his Tuesday interview, continued to praise Noem, who at one point had been considered a leading contender, although he acknowledged that she “had a couple of tough days, I’ll say that.”
Noem’s star, in fact, had been tarnished before the revelation of her dog’s murder amid questions about her trial, including her decision to appear in an infomercial-style video lavishing praise on a team of cosmetic dentists in Texas.
Meanwhile, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has also been the subject of negative headlines. A recent audit suggested that her office may have broken the law by purchasing a lectern worth $19,000, a scandal dubbed “lecterngate” by some.
Sanders, who served as Trump’s White House press secretary, responded with a Trumpian challenge, posting a 20-second video on X showing the blue, wood-paneled lectern. The opening lyrics of Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” played in the background and the words “come and get it” appeared on the screen.
Sanders may still face more questions as an audit of his travel and security records is pending. But his unapologetic response reinforced the image of him as an acolyte of the Trump brand.
“In the Trump era, what used to be a scandal is no longer a scandal and what used to be seen as a liability is not so much a liability anymore,” said Kevin Madden, who was a senior adviser to the former Republican presidential candidate. Mitt Romney. “Trump has the ability to block the sun.”
Provocative comments that might have been a drawback in past election cycles could also be an advantage for candidates like Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who has urged the public to “take matters into their own hands” if they encounter protesters. pro-Palestinians blocking traffic.
“Anyone who claims to know who or when President Trump will pick his vice president is lying, unless the person’s name is Donald J. Trump,” senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes said in an emailed statement.
Trump continues to maintain publicly and privately that “the most important thing” in a potential election is whether he would be a good president if asked, and that he does not believe the election will change the trajectory of the race.
“Vice presidents have never really helped in the electoral process,” he said Tuesday. “It’s a one-day story, it’s a big story, and then it’s back to work. They really want to know who is number one on the list.”
Mascaró reported from Washington and DeMillo from Little Rock, Arkansas.