With Trump having easily wrapped up his party’s nomination in March, the big question has been whom he will choose to run alongside him for vice president as a replacement for Mike Pence.
Perhaps the most likely choice right now seems to be Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s 2024 challengers who struggled to gain traction and dropped out before primaries began. But since then, the senator has been an ardent supporter of Trump and has appeared by his side often.
Scott is scheduled to attend a high-dollar fundraising event for Trump on Tuesday in Manhattan where tickets will cost six figures. He is also set to host a policy summit in Washington, D.C., next month influential donors like Citadel CEO Ken Griffin and Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman.
Some Republicans have been encouraging Trump to choose Scott to potentially expand his appeal to Black voters.
But as The Hill’s Alex Bolton reports, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) may be receiving more buzz than Scott at the moment. Vance started out against Trump during the former president’s first presidential run in 2016 but has emerged as one of his fiercest defenders.
Some strategists said Scott and Vance appear to be the top choices currently.
A few other names have also been included on the reported short list, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, another unsuccessful 2024 GOP candidate. Despite being little-known outside his home state when he first launched his presidential run, Burgum has unexpectedly risen to be near the top of the list and has received much praise from Trump.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the chair of the House Republican Conference, raised her profile greatly with the House hearings on antisemitism on college campuses in December, and her name has been regularly included. She sidestepped a question about serving as the running mate earlier this month after visiting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago along with some other rumored contenders.
Other names in the mix are Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary in the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) had been seen as a leading contender, but her chances seemed to be in free fall following controversy around stories from her book, including that she shot her family’s dog and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, the latter of which was eventually removed after it yielded scrutiny.
