There is only a month left before Donald Trump will need to announce a vice-presidential running mate to be affirmed at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. As with almost everything in the 2024 presidential race, the criteria Trump appears to be using to make this decision is unprecedented in modern American politics. It’s even different from the last time he chose a running mate in 2016.
He isn’t picking someone to provide balance geographically, ideologically, demographically, or even to help him govern. Instead, one thing drives the process: loyalty to him. In doing so, Trump is also changing the way we are used to seeing this process play out.
Consider the way Trump did it in 2016. Advertisement Trump placed an attorney at the top of a committee to vet choices. He then had other aides like his campaign manager present a list of 16 names to him, including a number of former presidential primary rivals.
Eventually that group was weeded down to a short list of six who were then asked to provide documents like tax returns to see if there were any potential problems. In the end, he chose then Indiana governor Mike Pence, hoping he would help Trump rally the party’s evangelical base who where weary of the three-time married Trump and ease concerns from more establishment-minded donors. This was a fairly traditional method, especially for Trump.
This time, potential running mates are almost running official campaigns. Some have aides booking them on television.
