Commentary

Recent hints and anticipation have been stimulating voters about who former President Donald Trump will pick as his running mate. It’s obviously a big decision with lots of speculation, but potential picks like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have said “the vice presidential choice with Donald Trump is going to be made by one person, and that’s Donald Trump.”

Word of mouth can provide a lot of insight and is seldom surprising in the end, but how do we know former President Trump hasn’t already made up his mind? At the recent New Jersey rally in Wildwood, he said of the 33rd governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum, “You won’t find anybody better than this gentleman in terms of his knowledge of, you know he made his money in technology, but he probably knows more about energy than anybody I know. So, get ready for something, okay, just get ready. But Doug Burgum has been incredible.”

Gov. Burgum joined former President Trump on board the Boeing 757 dubbed “Trump Force One,” so there is some gesture of character approval for Mr. Burgum as he is part of Trump’s inner circle. The governor said that getting to work with the former president was “like having a beautiful breeze at your back.”

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll shows former President Trump leading astoundingly in Nevada by 13 points, Georgia 10 points, Arizona 7 points, Pennsylvania 3 points, and Wisconsin 2 point. CNN reports the “Trump coalition is changing” and becoming more diverse, with non-white supporters growing a total of 6 percent in four years.

So who out of former President Trump’s potential VP picks could bring even more minority votes to the table? Names like Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mr. Rubio, Ben Carson, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), and Mr. Ramaswamy may come to mind.

Other popular names are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Tucker Carlson, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and women such as Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kari Lake, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Unfortunately for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the opportunity for her is closed as Trump posted on Truth Social on May 11, “Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!”

Another female contestant is one who is well-known for her military background and senatorial experience, the former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Ms. Gabbard has recently switched her party affiliation, aligning as an independent, yet apparently she has become a popular figure for Republicans.

In a recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll of 1,660 registered voters, Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Ramaswamy topped the list of most popular VP picks for former President Trump among Republican voters, with 23 percent and 13 percent support respectively. Mr. Scott was at 12 percent, while Ms. Gabbard had 8 percent support. Mr. Burgum garnered 2 percent.

However, a recent nationwide grassroots survey of 1,028 GOP supporters conducted by California Republican Party delegates Rudy Melendez and Evelyn Jones placed Ms. Gabbard in the lead with a surprising 20 percent, with Mr. Ramaswamy in second place at 13 percent, Mr. DeSantis at 11 percent, and Mr. Scott 7 percent. Mr. Carlson received 6 percent, while others are listed on the graph below.

(Courtesy of Rudy Melendez and Evelyn Jones)

(Courtesy of Rudy Melendez and Evelyn Jones)

With 2.4 million followers on X, Ms. Gabbard has definitely been floating around the public’s consciousness. “For Tulsi Gabbard,” said survey developer Mr. Melendez, “her book deal has generated good publicity for her, so I’m not surprised to see her polling well, however I do think President Trump may have someone else in mind to serve as VP.”

Many of former President Trump’s supporters have recently traveled to support him in New York during his trial, including Gov. Burgum, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Mr. Donalds. I can see an instance where former President Trump uses somebody like Mr. Burgum, not as well-known but a loyal supporter, as his vice president pick. This could allow for more of the spotlight to remain on the main candidate: President Donald Trump.

Who you think should be former President Trump’s VP?