Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) is in the mix to be former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, according to a report.
On Thursday, Politico’s Natalie Allison wrote that Burgum, who was a candidate in the GOP presidential primary, “is now seen as one of the top contenders to be the Republican running mate.”
Burgum notably dropped out of the race in December and endorsed Trump on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses. After Trump thumped his opponents in the caucuses, the 45th president said he would like to have the governor as a “very important” part of his administration.
Breitbart News reported on January 17 of the growing relationship between Trump and Burgum, and even noted some in Trump’s orbit were talking about him as a potential running mate or cabinet member if Trump were to win back the White House.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who told Breitbart News in January that Trump recognized Burgum as cabinet material last summer, told Politico Thursday that Burgum has “earned serious consideration” in the veepstakes.
He pointed to the governor’s policy prowess but also expressed he was surprised at first about what Allison reports is rising consideration for Burgum, noting, “A white male from a state with three electoral votes that haven’t gone to a Democrat since LBJ [Lyndon B. Johnson] does not seem to bring a lot of electoral value to the ticket.”
However, Trump told Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow and Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle back in January that who gets the vice presidential nod “has never made a difference” in an election’s outcome.
“They’re voting for the president. They’re not voting for the vice president. There has, not that I can think of, never been a vice president that’s made much of a difference in terms of nomination and in terms of even winning the election,” he said.
One source who is reportedly familiar with the Trump campaign told Politico that Burgum has proven to be a strong fundraiser as a Trump surrogate.
As Allison pointed out, the night Trump won the Iowa caucuses, Burgum flew with him aboard his plane nicknamed “Trump Force I” to New York. Days later, he joined Sirius XM’s Breitbart New Saturday and recounted how Trump was working during that flight at 3:30 a.m.
“Nobody works harder than Donald Trump. That plane left Iowa at midnight, a two-and-a-half-hour flight with the time change landing at 3:30 in the morning, and President Trump never stopped working for one minute on that flight,” Burgum recalled. “It was impressive, then he had to get up the next day and have a full day of activity before going to New Hampshire the next night.”
During the interview, Boyle asked Burgum if he would want to be Trump’s running mate – if the 45th president asked – or if he would serve in another capacity in the scenario where Trump wins the election and calls upon him to serve.
Burgum emphasized that he was flattered by Trump’s positive comments after the Caucus but said, “We’ve got to get President Trump… the nomination; we got to get him elected.”
“There’s a long way to go before any of those scenarios were to come true,” he added.
But that was five months ago. Trump has secured the nomination since then, and July’s Republican National Convention is rapidly approaching.
Media speculation has surrounded a number of other Republicans as well, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), and J.D. Vance (R-OH); entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Dr. Ben Carson,and more.
In February, Trump confirmed to Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that at least Scott, Ramaswamy, DeSantis, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-HI) were on his list.
