Trump’s VP Pick Narrowed Down Even More

(TotalConservative.com) – With the presidential election only six months away, former President Donald Trump is beginning to home in on his top picks for running mate as he narrows down his choices for a prospective vice president.

According to some GOP lawmakers in communication with Trump, the former president is planning to make a “strategic” choice for running mate. Several senators are backing Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina as their main pick. Scott ran a brief campaign against Trump before suddenly dropping out in November 2023 and then endorsing the former president a few months later, in January.

Another likely pick is North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, whom Trump has expressed interest in and whose more moderate position on abortion aligns closely with the former president’s. While Burgum was still running for the Republican nomination, he promised that despite signing strict abortion restrictions into law in his state, he would not support a federal abortion ban if elected to the White House. Trump has since taken the same public position, claiming the post-Roe v. Wade landscape should remain as is.

While some potential candidates are still on Trump’s radar, others are fading from consideration, such as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. She initially seemed like the most likely choice and would have made a strong candidate as a woman at a time when that demographic is on shaky ground with Republicans over the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She was not present in the retreat and has fallen out of favor after recent controversy surrounding her new book.

Noem posted an excerpt from the memoir describing an event in which she put down a 14-month-old dog for misbehaving on her ranch following a hunting trip. Noem argued the killing of the dog by gunshot, and a goat subsequently, is a normal occurrence when dealing with work animals on a farm as opposed to pets.

Many did not accept Noem’s explanation and found her behavior unethical at worst and unappealing for a vice president candidate at best. Democrats raked her over the coals on social media, and Republicans largely turned their back on the South Dakota governor.

While the media continues to speculate, Trump said he will not announce his final running mate choice until shortly before the Republican National Convention in July, which will be held in Wisconsin.