There's still no certainty that Florida's senior Senator will be on Donald Trump's ticket this year, even after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's remarks at a Doral Trump rally.
The former President thinks one complication could be the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which blocks electors from voting for a President and Vice President from the same state, a rule that Trump says presents wrinkles.
"You do that and it makes it more complicated. There are other people that don't have that complication," Trump told Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio.
"Now, it's fairly easily fixed, but you have to do something with delegates or there has to be a resignation, you know, et cetera, et cetera. So it's not like picking some people where it's very easy, where there is none of that."
Trump noted that the 12th Amendment means that if his ticket wants Florida votes in the Electoral College, "two people (from the state) can't be running on the same ticket."
"They take delegates and taking delegates is, you know, a very risky thing to do, right?"
At least in theory, Rubio could resign from his Senate seat and move somewhere else. But Trump didn't float that in Wednesday's interview.
Beyond that logistical concern, Trump lauded Rubio's performance in Doral.
"Well, he's very good and we have some great people that we're looking at. We have, as they say, a deep bench, but Marco was great last night. Very popular. And he's certainly one of the people that we're looking at, you know, over the next week or so."
Trump still has a few days to mull over his decision, saying he'd "love to do it" during the Republican National Convention, but adding that in any case, the announcement will come "pretty soon."
Rubio's performance seems to have inspired investor confidence. His "yes" shares are priced on prediction market aggregator Polymarket at 16 cents at this writing, making him competitive with J.D. Vance (18 cents). But the most popular "yes" share is "Other Man" at 43 cents, which would encompass options like North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and his counterpart from Virginia, Glenn Youngkin.
In roughly nine minutes of remarks Tuesday in Doral, the South Florida-based Senator seemed cognizant of being in the final stage of auditioning to be Trump's running mate, or perhaps for another important role in the White House. He hewed closely to Trump's talking points and offered some humor all his own as he spoke of being Trump's surrogate in the spin room after last month's debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Although the rousing speech did not lead to a firm commitment from Trump to make Rubio his running mate, Rubio supporters still have reason for optimism based on the former President's own performance in Doral.
Trump offered what could be considered a tease of a potential Rubio pick to a mixed reaction from the Senator's hometown crowd, pointing out the media covering the rally.
"I think they probably think I'm going to be announcing that Marco's going to be Vice President because that's a lot of press. That's a lot of press," Trump said.
Trump offered another aside to Rubio when discussing his "no taxes for tips" proposal, saying, "Marco, you're going to vote for it, I hope." Trump added that Rubio "may or may not be there to vote for it" but promised the Florida Senator would be "involved."
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