Trump Set to Pick VP Candidate in Coming Days, Final Decision Down to 'Instinct'

Former President Donald Trump is set to select his running mate in the coming days but revealed the final decision will come down to his "instinct."

Trump, speaking on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show Friday, confirmed he will be revealing his running mate against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the coming days. 

The former president stated, "I’m going into great detail. But more ultimately, it’s more of an instinct. You develop an instinct, but I like to know all the facts before the instinct kicks in."

Trump praised the candidates listing off Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and J.D. Vance (R-OH), along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R).

Trump continued saying, "I watched Tim Scott on television yesterday, he was fierce and great. He was great. I watched Marco over the weekend on television, he was incredible. J.D.’s has been great. You have a man named Burgum, who is a fantastic governor in North Dakota, and it’s a state that’s very, very prosperous, very successful, and he’s done a good job there."

Strategic Timing

An announcement of Trump's vice-presidential pick has been delayed for some time now, and that seems to have been intentional.

Following Trump's debate with President Joe Biden two weeks ago, the press has been dominated by talk about the incumbent's health and the need to replace him with a suitable candidate.

Trump appears to recognize that he shouldn't interrupt this favorable news cycle. Biden is not faring well in the mainstream media, and the Democrat Party is fracturing.

When Trump finally announces his running mate, it will have a disruptive effect that will allow the mainstream media to focus on whomever Trump picks to be his wingman or wingwoman.

Trump has delayed his announcement as long as possible in order to maximize this debate fallout but with the RNC convention beginning this week, the time has come for him to introduce his running mate to his supporters.

Trump explained, "I’d love to do it during the convention, which would be, you know, or just slightly before the convention like Monday. I’d love to do it on Tuesday or Wednesday, actually, but for a lot of complex reasons that you people understand, we pretty much don’t do that."

Potential Selections

Trump has his choice of several different suitable candidates that will bring significant value to Trump's campaign.

Vance is one of the strongest candidates Trump has mentioned due to his strong conservative leanings and his ability to tap into the grassroots base. However, Vance is also a powerful asset in the Senate, and he may be more important there.

There is a significant opportunity cost to pulling Vance from the Senate which means it may be worthwhile to pick one of the other candidates.

Alternatively, it is possible that Trump purposely omitted the name of his selection, as he hasn't mentioned South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R). The anticipation is definitely building, and Trump has a chance to create a shockwave that will galvanize voters all the way into November.