NEW YORK — As former President Donald Trump continues to sit in the courtroom listening to salacious details about an affair he denies, another spectacle is playing out in the background as his vice presidential tryouts begin.
The dynamic was on full display this weekend at a behind-closed-doors fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club, which doubled as an audition with a long list of potential running mates. Trump at one point invited many of the contenders onto the stage, like contestants in one of his old beauty pageants. The next day, several of them, including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Governor Doug Burgum of South Dakota, Senator Marco Rubio of Ohio and Elise Stefanik of New York, spread across the Sunday news shows to sing his praises.
“This weekend we had 15 people. … They’re all campaigning,” Trump told Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin on Tuesday. “It might be more effective this way because they all think they can be elected, and I think they are.”
The comments show why Trump is in no rush to pick his potential second-in-command or publicly waver on his choices. For now, the presumptive GOP nominee is enjoying the attention as reporters analyze his choices and potential candidates court him in an “Apprentice”-style competition.
Trump has said he plans to make an announcement shortly before July’s Republican National Convention, as he did when he selected then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in 2016.
“Ultimately it’s up to him. He will decide intuitively who should be his vice president, and he will listen to everyone until then and then decide,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of three finalists on Trump’s 2016 list.
For candidates, he said, if Trump calls them and asks them to speak at a rally, “The right answer is ‘yes.’ But there are limits to their impact.
“Some of them try to audition,” Gingrich said, “but I never thought it would work so well.”
For now, according to several people familiar with his thinking, Trump continues to consider a long list of possible candidates: governors, senators and members of Congress, including some who ran against him and lost. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the fundraising and private conversations. As Trump ponders his decision, he is watching to see who can raise money, defend him effectively and perform at political events. He is especially interested in how they come across on television.
Part of what appears to have made the decision more difficult is that many of the candidates under serious consideration have had setbacks against them.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential top candidate, could help Trump win over Hispanic voters as well as establishment donors still wary of a second Trump term. But Rubio has a problem: he lives in Florida, the same state as Trump, which would violate the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution.
Trump himself has raised the issue, including at Saturday’s fundraising luncheon where he said he liked Rubio, according to one of many attendees, but noted the issue with his residence and called it a problem.
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a friend of Trump’s eldest son who has grown close to the former president, is also considered a top candidate. He impressed Trump allies last week with a CNN interview.
But Trump continues to note that Vance was a critic before he became a supporter — something he mentioned again at the Saturday event before praising Vance as a great senator.
Scott, who Trump has repeatedly joked is a much better surrogate than a candidate, also has drawbacks. Scott urged Trump to support a national 15-week abortion ban during the Republican party primaries. His selection would draw new attention to something Trump has tried to eliminate as a campaign issue by insisting it should be left to the states.
These issues could help a candidate like Burgum, a billionaire who has traveled extensively with Trump since dropping his own presidential bid.
Others seemed to push the boundaries of what it takes to be disqualified.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has faced a media firestorm since reports emerged that she wrote about the shooting death of a family dog in a book released this week. Noem has also been caught making mistakes, including falsely claiming that she once met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. She has continued to appear in interviews defending her actions, drawing out the storyline for days.
Trump, in his interview on Tuesday, continued to praise Noem, who at one point was considered a top candidate, although he acknowledged that “she’s had a rough few days, I will say that.”
Noem’s star was effectively tarnished before the revelation of her dog’s murder, amid questions about her judgment, including her decision to appear in an infomercial-style video praising a team of cosmetic dentists in Texas.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, has also been the subject of negative headlines. A recent audit found that her office may have broken the law when it purchased a $19,000 lectern — a scandal some are calling “lectern gate.”
Sanders, who served as Trump’s White House press secretary, responded with Trumpian defiance, posting a 20-second video on X showing the blue and wood-paneled lectern. The opening lyrics of Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” played in the background and the words “come and take it” appeared on the screen.
Sanders may face more questions as an audit of her travel and security records is pending. But her brash response cemented her image as an acolyte of the Trump brand.
“In the Trump era, what used to be a scandal is no longer a scandal and what used to be seen as a liability is not really a liability,” said Kevin Madden, a senior adviser to the former Republican presidential candidate. Mitt Romney. “Trump has the ability to block out the sun.”
Provocative comments that could have been a problem in past election cycles could also be assets for candidates like Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who has urged the public to “take matters into their own hands” when confronting pro-Palestinian protesters encounter people blocking traffic.
“Anyone who claims to know who or when President Trump will choose his vice president is lying, unless the person’s name is Donald J. Trump,” senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes said in an emailed statement.
Trump continues to maintain publicly and privately that the “important thing” about any potential pick is whether they would be a good president if called upon — and that he doesn’t think the pick is likely to change the trajectory of the race.
“VPs have never really helped in the election process,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s a one day story, it’s a big story, and then it’s back to work. They really want to know who is No. 1 on the ticket.” ___
Mascaro reported from Washington and DeMillo from Little Rock, Arkansas.