Milwaukee: Former US President Donald Trump, who survived an assassination bid at his election rally in Pennsylvania, is likely to announce his Vice-Presidential pick on Monday. The defiant Trump entered the Republican National Convention having not announced his vice presidential choice. Trump, while talking to Fox News Channel on phone call, reportedly asserted that he has planned to make his pick for the vice-presidential post on Monday.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether the shooting Saturday at his Pennsylvania rally has changed the former president’s thinking about his potential second-in-command. Sources claimed that after the shooting incident, Republican Presidential candidate Trump’s choice would carry considerably more gravity.
Notably, Trump was hit on his right ear with a bullet sparking speculations that if the bullet had struck just a little bit to the right, it would have caused fatal injuries to him. The close call puts in stark relief the significance of a position that is a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Choosing Someone Qualified To Take Over As Commander-In-Chief Is Trump’s Top Consideration: Reports
Trump has repeatedly claimed that choosing someone qualified to take over as commander-in-chief was his top consideration for the role. “You need somebody that can be good just in case, that is horrible just in case,” he said in an interview with “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” in May.
In an interview with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner taped hours before the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, Trump was asked about how close he was to his VP pick and whether his decision-making would change if President Joe Biden steps aside.
“It’s a very important position especially if something bad should happen,” Trump said. “That’s the most important, if something bad should happen.”
Those on Trump’s shortlist have differing levels of governing experience. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, for instance, has been in office less than two years, while North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum helms a state with a population (780,000 people) smaller than Columbus, Ohio (908,000). Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been in politics for decades and is in his third term in the Senate.
Before the shooting, Trump had made clear that he wanted to dramatically reveal his pick at the convention, which he said would make it more “interesting” and “exciting.”
“It’s like a highly sophisticated version of ‘The Apprentice,’” he quipped in a radio interview last week, referring to the show he once hosted that featured him firing contestants on camera.
‘We Stand United’: Trump After Attack
Trump and convention organisers have said the RNC’s schedule will go on as planned despite the shooting, with Trump writing on his social media site that he could not “allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to schedule, or anything else.”
“At this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he wrote.
He held meetings in the days before the shooting with the top contenders. All have submitted material, including bios and photographs, to convention organizers that can be used to prepare content if they’re picked, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the secretive process.
The private meetings with Vance, Rubio and Burgum were first reported by ABC News.
Nothing was offered during the meetings, one of the people said.
Trump waiting until the convention to choose a running mate is later than usual for recent cycles but is hardly unprecedented.
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