Update, Friday, 11:00am – After chaos surrounding the Veep pick Thursday and a postponed official news conference, Donald Trump took to Twitter Friday morning to announce that he had officially chosen Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate.
Update, 11:21am – Although details are still murky, one source close to the Trump campaign tells Roll Call that the Vice Presidential candidate will definitely been Indiana governor Mike Pence.
The Trump campaign may be leaking this information early to help head off a mutiny in the RNC Rules Committee, where delegates are currently debating a measure that would unbind the RNC delegates.
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After weeks of speculation, Donald Trump will announce his Vice Presidential pick Friday morning at 11am.
The candidate Tweeted Wednesday evening that he would being making his final decision over the next 48 hours, though he gave no hint as to which of the several finalists he’d be focusing on.
While entire the Trump family gathered in Indianapolis to meet with Indiana Governor Mike Pence, undoubtedly to gauge what Pence would bring to a Trump ticket, another well-known front-runner, Newt Gingrich, was making his closing argument to Donald Trump on Hannity.
According to Gingrich, he’s the only option for Trump — because they’re both unapologetic pirates. Yes, pirates.
He summed up Trump’s final calculations by saying that Trump was considering whether America was ready for a “two-pirate” ticket.
Rumors within the Republican Party seem to indicate that Trump favors Newt Gingrich, but that Trump’s family members prefer a more practical approach and are pushing the candidate to consider Pence instead. Gingrich has similar unfavorables to Trump — around 60% of voters are as turned off by Newt, as they are by Donald — and Pence, who is generally viewed as a staunch conservative, might reassure skeptical Republicans that Donald Trump is serious about governing according to the GOP’s ideals.
But besides Gingrich and Pence, who seem to be leading the Veepstakes, there are still several other candidates in contention. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was officially vetted, though he didn’t meet with Trump family approval, and Trump mentioned two “surprise” candidates under consideration in a speech last week.
Monday, GOP insiders mentioned that Trump had been speaking with Lt. Gen Mike Flynn and Trump even, reportedly, met with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this week.
At this point, though, it could be anybody’s Vice Presidential slot. Donald Trump is notorious for his surprise decisions on The Apprentice, and this is, essentially, just the reality television contest writ large. Trump could always pull a last minute decision and recruit, say, Sarah Palin, who is conspicuously missing from Trump’s RNC speakers lineup.
Heat Street will keep you updated as the Vice Presidential process evolves.