Republican candidate Donald Trump is looking for a competent and loyal person to fill the position of Vice President, provided that he remains in his shadow and does not exceed him.
Will he choose influential Florida Senator Marco Rubio? Or North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who is little known to the public? Or J.D. Vance, the young author who is very popular in Congress? Or surprise by choosing someone unexpected?
Who will Donald Trump choose? It is a question around which all speculation revolves. He must announce this officially before the Republican Party convention is held in Milwaukee next week, during which the nomination of the duo that Donald Trump will form with his vice president will be officially confirmed.
He was supposed to announce this earlier, but Republicans preferred to leave the spotlight focused on the health of Joe Biden, Trump's rival in the November elections.
"Excellent work"
The Republican candidate has remained silent about his choice for his ideal running mate. “He will be a great vice president,” he said on Fox News on Monday, before enumerating some of the conditions that must be met by the person who will be his right-hand man if he wins.
“We need someone to help us win elections,” the Republican billionaire said, and his joining the campaign would expand the voter base. But also "able to do an excellent job as president."
Vice President position
In the United States, the position of vice president was created primarily to replace the president in the event of death or resignation.
In total, nine vice presidents became presidents under such circumstances, the most recent of whom was Lyndon Johnson after Kennedy's assassination, and Gerald Ford after Nixon's departure following the Watergate scandal.
Otherwise, the role, as defined by the Constitution, is very limited.
In a letter written by John Adams, the first vice president in American history, to his wife Abigail, he complained to her bitterly about his fate in the year 1793, saying, “My country, in all its great wisdom, has designed for me an office that is the most insignificant that a human being could ever imagine.”
But the vice president's responsibilities have expanded over time and today he "serves as an advisor on various issues," explains Joel Goldstein, a professor at Saint Louis University.
Search for the quality of loyalty
Kamala Harris, whose role as Joe Biden's running mate is being tracked due to his advanced age, is fully engaged on abortion and immigration issues.
However, the vice president's powers depend largely on the president's character, Goldstein points out. "It's hard to see Trump letting anyone steal the spotlight from him," he says.
The other quality that Donald Trump looks for, perhaps more than anything else, is loyalty.
Former Vice President Mike Pence had sworn absolute loyalty to Trump, until January 6, 2021, when he refused to obstruct the certification of Joe Biden's victory in Congress, contrary to the orders of the then president.
Today, Trump's supporters describe Mike Pence as a traitor, and Donald Trump rejected from the beginning the idea of choosing him again as his vice president.
He keeps tight-lipped about who his preferred candidates are - of course, the names of Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance are the ones that keep coming up.
But every time his team asks about this, he refers to a brief statement issued by his advisor Brian Hughes.
"Anyone who claims to know who President Trump will choose as vice president, or when, unless it is Donald Trump himself," Hughes said at the time.
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