With the 2024 Presidential election set to be a rematch of 2020, all eyes are on Donald Trump’s search for a new Vice Presidential running mate.
One Republican reportedly near the top of the former President’s list is out.
And with this Republican disqualified from being Donald Trump’s running mate, working class Americans can celebrate a big win.
Florida man has a big problem
According to a recent report from The Bulwark’s Marc Caputo, former President Donald Trump’s campaign staff has assembled a dozen dossiers filled with every piece of information they could possibly gather to fully vet potential Vice Presidential running mates.
Of course, that’s merely part of the typical procedures most every Presidential campaign in both parties undertakes to ensure they’re choosing the right candidate, and avoiding any who may have lots of skeletons in their closet.
But what’s not typical is the fact that Caputo reported that Trump hasn’t even opened the dossiers, and seemingly isn’t engaging in the typical process of vetting potential running mates.
Instead, Trump is vetting his short list of candidates on his own, “asking friends, consultants, and insiders whom they think he should pick and why,” Caputo wrote.
And according to Caputo’s reporting, two names are coming up in those discussions more frequently than any others – Senators J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).
While Donald Trump Jr. has been among those encouraging his father to select Senator Vance, others within the former President’s inner circle – especially those from Florida – have been adamant that he select Rubio.
But there’s one big problem – and many others, quite frankly – with the idea that Trump should select Rubio: it’s unconstitutional.
According to the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, when it comes to the President and Vice President, “one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.”
To put that more clearly, because Trump and Senator Rubio both live in Florida, the Constitution does not permit them to be President and Vice President at the same time, and if they were to run on the same ticket anyway, the Electoral College votes cast in their favor would not count and President Joe Biden would win re-election by default.
“Trump respects Marco, and if it wasn’t for the residency issue, Marco would probably get it,” one source told The Bulwark. “[Trump] is concerned about it. He said Rubio’s people have a memo showing it’s not a problem, but I’m not sure he’s convinced. And he’s damn sure not moving.”
Workarounds for Rubio are risky
Of course, if Trump was as adamant about making Rubio his Vice President as that source claimed, one of them could simply move ahead of Election Day – a move many legal experts believe would circumvent the issue.
“It is very hard for anyone to be able to sue and challenge the electors’ votes before the fact, because the candidate could always establish inhabitancy before the electors vote,” University of Notre Dame law professor Derek T. Muller told Caputo. “And after they vote, it is really a matter for Congress to determine.”
“It’s up to Congress to sustain the objection and it takes a majority vote in both chambers to sustain one,” Ohio State University’s Edward B. Foley added.
“So you tell me the political likelihood that the Senate would disqualify Rubio from being vice president when he was a senator before he ran for vice president. I don’t think this is really enforceable in court. I think this is enforceable only in Congress,” Foley concluded.
But fortunately, it doesn’t seem as though Trump is willing to go that far to have Rubio as his running mate.
If Trump were to select Rubio, it would create a situation in which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would have to appoint a Senator to fulfill Rubio’s nearly full six year term – he was re-elected again this past November – and even though DeSantis would undoubtedly appoint the best candidate possible, Caputo reported that the former President would prefer for voters to make such decisions.
“[Trump] prefers that the people get to vote,” a source close to Trump suggested. “That’s his consideration.”
Regardless of the legal wranglings, the fact that Trump seemingly can’t nominate Rubio as his Vice Presidential running mate is a huge win for the American people.
Senator Rubio has a long track record of talking a good, conservative game during campaign season, only to show his true colors as an establishment RINO the moment votes are cast.
Rubio has been a huge proponent of the Bush-McCain-Romney wing of the GOP’s warmongering obsession with endless war, bending over backwards to support limitless taxpayer funding for the ruling class elites’ proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.
He also led the effort to pass the Gang of 8 amnesty bill, supported anti-Second Amendment so-called “red flag” confiscation laws, and championed the Deep State’s unconstitutional warrantless mass surveillance of working class Americans.
Needless to say, the last thing the American people need is for Donald Trump to give Marco Rubio more power while anointing him the likely frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2028.
And hopefully, the former President will think twice before he makes that mistake.
Political Animal News will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
