Blaze News original: One heartbeat away — who will Trump tap for VP?

Who will former President Donald Trump select as his running mate?

While the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee has not yet announced a pick, some reports earlier this month suggested figures being vetted included North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

"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 of the Trump campaign has noted, according to reports.

President Joe Biden is currently the oldest president in U.S. history, but if Trump wins the 2024 election and completes the full term, he would become the oldest person ever to serve as president.

'But given Trump's endorsements lately, it's unlikely that he will suddenly shift to the right when it comes to his running mate.'

Blaze Media's Daniel Horowitz told Blaze News that Trump is so well-known that his vice presidential pick won't change voters' minds about him.

But Horowitz said the choice of running mate does matter for conservatives because of the chance "that the vice presidential candidate could become president," and because if Trump loses the 2024 contest, the person who was chosen "as his running mate will instantaneously have the inside track on a leadership role in the party and the movement going forward."

Horowitz said that Vance "most closely represents the values of" Trump's "core supporters. But given Trump's endorsements lately, it's unlikely that he will suddenly shift to the right when it comes to his running mate."

Vance, who authored the book "Hillbilly Elegy," entered office last year.

Before Trump won the 2016 presidential election, Vance described himself as a "never Trump guy," saying, "I never liked him."

But Vance now says he was wrong about Trump, stating that while he did not think Trump would be a good president, Trump was a "great president."

The senator has a 93% session score from Heritage Action.

"Unfortunately, most of the names being bandied about as his top prospects, such as Doug Burgum and Tim Scott, represent the antithesis of why Trump was elevated to prominence to begin with. They embody the old GOP," Horowitz said.

Scott, who has served in the Senate since 2013, launched a GOP presidential primary bid last year only to later drop out.

The senator has an 88% session score from Heritage Action.

'No thank you.'

Burgum, who has served as North Dakota governor since late 2016, also launched a Republican presidential primary run last year before later dropping it.

But during his short-lived White House bid, he made the unorthodox move of offering people a $20 gift card if they donated $1 to his campaign.

"Struggling under Biden's economy? Let us help. Donate $1 and we'll send you a $20 gift card in the mail. That's a pretty good deal!" Burgum tweeted.

The peculiar tactic likely helped Burgum meet the unique donor thresholds required to take part in Republican presidential primary debates last year, because he made it into the first two debates.

In 2021, Burgum vetoed a bill that would have barred public schools from knowingly allowing males to participate on female sports teams. But then in 2023, Burgum signed a bill stipulating that school sports meant for females may not be open to male students.

"If Doug Burgum is the pick, you have an uninspired selection who has an unrealistic view on green issues, excuses ESG and has ties to big government globalists like Bill Gates. No thank you," Keith Malinak of BlazeTV's "Pat Gray Unleashed" told Blaze News in a statement.

"My hope is that Trump picks Byron Donalds. Donalds clearly has a love for America, respects the US Constitution and can beautifully deliver a liberty minded message to an audience hungry to hear it articulated," he stated.

Donalds, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2021, announced a House speakership bid last year after Kevin McCarthy had been ousted from the role. Ultimately, House Republicans tapped Rep. Mike Johnson (La.) for the role.

While Donalds has a 100% session score from Heritage Action, Stefanik has a score of just 58%.

Stefanik was tapped for the role of House Republican Conference Chair after the House GOP booted Liz Cheney from that post in 2021.

Trump has issued a ringing endorsement of Stefanik, calling her "SMART, STRONG, and TOUGH."

'Conservatives have nowhere else to go, and Trump is certainly behaving as if he knows that.''

Cotton has a 46% session score from Heritage Action, while Rubio has a 67%.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, served as HUD secretary during Trump's White House tenure.

Last month, Trump declared on Truth Social that former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was not being considered for vice president, stating, "Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!"

"The dominant hiring trend for Trump has been strong and attractive women, and beta males — Trump likes to be the only rooster in the hen house. There have been a few exceptions to this, but by and large this is the trend. Given that, I have been predicting for months he would pick Tulsi Gabbard to further the (correct) narrative the Democrat Party has gone insane," BlazeTV host Steve Deace told Blaze News in a statement.

Then-Rep. Gabbard mounted a Democratic presidential primary bid in 2019 but ultimately dropped out and backed Joe Biden in 2020.

In 2022, the former Democratic lawmaker declared that she was ditching the Democratic Party, which she said is "under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers who are driven by cowardly wokeness."

She has indicated that she would accept the role of Trump's running mate if he were to offer it to her.

"As for what conservatives should think, I don't think they should think anything or have any expectations," Deace said in his statement to Blaze News. "Trump is king and can do what he wants. Conservatives have nowhere else to go, and Trump is certainly behaving as if he knows that."

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