Former President Trump is using the audition process for his running mate to create an army of surrogates willing to defend him and echo his talking points while he is tied up in a Manhattan courtroom. As vice-presidential contenders vie for Trump’s attention and favor, they are flooding the airwaves to lift up his candidacy and attack President Biden.
Republican Sens. Tim Scott (S.C.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) as well as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), all of whom are on the shortlist to be Trump’s running mate, made Sunday political show appearances in the hopes the former president might be tuning in.
Trump himself acknowledged the strategy in an interview on Tuesday. Allies said the former president is likely to draw out his selection process to keep the lengthy list of contenders competing for the role.
Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, has maintained a growing shortlist of potential vice presidential candidates that includes Scott, Rubio, Burgum, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), among others.
Having a stable of surrogates hitting the airwaves is particularly beneficial for Trump at a time when he is attending court on charges of falsifying business records over a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Strategists and Trump allies argued it would be wise for Trump to continue drawing out the vice-presidential selection process as long as the Manhattan case is going on. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) likened the ongoing veepstakes to Trump’s career before politics, suggesting Trump will play it out like ‘The Apprentice.’