Final four: Trump drops four names when asked about highly anticipated vice presidential pick

In a campaign stop in the Bronx, New York, former President Donald Trump named some of his possible vice presidential picks, a sign the list may be shortening. 

In an interview with News 12 New York, Trump singled out Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as top options on a list that has continued to grow.

“We have so many,” Trump said when asked about picks for vice president. “You could take people like Ben Carson, people like Marco Rubio, or J.D. Vance. I mean, there’s so many. Elise is doing a fantastic job, but I could go on for quite a long time. We have many people who would do a really fantastic job.”

When asked about the timeline, Trump said he would make a decision “sometime during the convention,” which is when presidential nominees typically announce their vice president. Trump has floated all of these names as picks for various reasons. 

Sen. Marco Rubio

There are constitutional problems with Trump picking Rubio as his running mate. The 12th Amendment states the president and vice president on the same ticket cannot be from the same state, or else that state cannot vote for them should they win the state. 

In Florida, that could prove worrisome as the 2024 election between Trump and President Joe Biden is expected to be close. 

When asked about being Trump’s vice president, Rubio said he has discussed it with Trump and is aware of reports about the constitutionality of two Floridians on the same ticket.

“Donald Trump’s going to win no matter who he picks. He’s going to get elected,” Rubio said. “I think the criteria he said publicly is the right one, which is someone who’s ready to be president.”

Dr. Ben Carson

Picking Carson would help Trump continue to improve his standing with black voters, something polls suggest he has already been successful at.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Carson said he believed black voters would flock to Trump, a voting bloc the former president has been courting. 

“I think Trump is making major inroads with all demographic groups in our country, including black voters,” Carson said. “They recognize that they were better off with his administration than they are now.”

He expressed full confidence that Trump would win the election, too. A surgeon-turned-politician, Carson ran for president in 2016.

Sen. J.D. Vance

Vance has been proving his loyalty to Trump with a recent visit to the courthouse of Trump’s New York criminal hush money trial. The freshman senator has taken up the role of attack dog, lobbing verbal bombs at Judge Juan Merchan and the entire trial process that Trump’s gag order has prevented him from keeping up himself.

“Four weeks into New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal trial against Trump, it’s clear this charade is more about partisan politics than law enforcement,” Vance said in a statement after the visit. 

The Hillbilly Elegy author was once critical of the former president and said he did not vote for him in the 2016 election. 

“I’m a Never Trump guy,” Vance said in an interview with Charlie Rose in 2016. “I never liked him.”

Since then, Vance, along with the rest of the Republican Party, has softened his opposition to the former president.

Rep. Elise Stefanik

Stefanik has risen through the ranks of the House, and she gained widespread attention for grilling university leaders during a blockbuster hearing addressing antisemitism on college campuses.  

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

She is a self-described “ultra MAGA” and “proud of it,” and some believe the ticket with Trump and Stefanik would be “right” for their ties to New York.

“The former president is certainly associated with New York, and especially New York City,” New York-based Democratic strategist Jack O’Donnell said. “His career, his fame, his show, all of these things are kind of associated with New York. So it seems only right that he would pick a New Yorker like Elise Stefanik to be on the ticket now that he’s no longer a resident of the state.”