Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that he would not be interested in running for former President Donald J. Trump as vice president if Mr. Trump wins the 2024 nomination.
“I’m not a No. 2 guy,” Mr. DeSantis said in response to a question during an appearance on the Wisconsin Right Now podcast. “I think I’m a leader. Governor of Florida, I was able to accomplish a lot. I think I could probably do more staying there than being a VP who doesn’t really have any authority.”
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, immediately shot down the idea that the former president would even consider Mr. DeSantis, a one-time ally now challenging him for the Republican nomination, as a running mate.
“Ron DeSantis is not anybody’s guy. He’s not ‘the guy.’ He’s just a ‘guy,'” Mr. Cheung said in a statement. “Ron is just there, sad and sad, because his numbers are as small as he is.”
The early (very early) vice presidential draw
With not a single primary electorate, it is far too early to speculate on who the Republican nominee for vice president will be. But that didn’t stop voters and political observers from doing just that.
At events for Mr. DeSantis in the early nominating states, some voters said they wished the much younger Mr. DeSantis would run on the same ticket as Mr. Trump.
“DeSantis is four years too early,” said Jim Mai, a Republican voter in the crowd for a speech Mr. DeSantis gave in Sioux Center, Iowa, in May. “Trump should run and have DeSantis as his vice president.”
But a joint ticket between the two Florida men would prove logistically challenging.
The 12th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits members of the Electoral College from voting for president and vice president who are both from the same state as themselves. So if Mr. Trump chose Mr. DeSantis, or another Florida resident like Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, who is also in the race, he would lose the state’s 30 electoral votes.
One solution: Mr. Trump, who changed his residence to Florida before the 2020 election, could change it back to New York.
Who might Trump ask to be his vice president if he is the nominee?
It is unclear whether any of the leading candidates after Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis might be interested in joining the former president’s ticket if he does win the nomination.
Some of the more likely possibilities could be former governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, who served as Mr. Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations; Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who lavished praise on Mr. Trump; and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, of whom Mr. Trump spoke kindly.
But on Monday, when Mr. Scott was asked on Fox News, if he thought about it, he said: “You enter the race for president to win, just to win.”
Others, such as former governor Chris Christie of New Jersey — who has said it is a goal of his long-shot bid to oust Mr. Trump — would almost certainly have no interest. Nor would Mr. Trump be interested in him.
Of course, Mr. Trump could choose someone who is not currently running for president.
Presidential candidates usually choose a running mate to help them shore up support in a crucial swing state or with a specific constituency. But Mr. Trump’s advisers have often said he doesn’t think he needs that kind of help from No. 2.
Have any Republicans expressed interest in being the candidate’s running mate?
At this point in the race, it’s unlikely that a major contender for president would publicly downgrade his aspirations for the No. 2 spot.
Former Vice President Mike Pence — who’s been there, done that — did said that he thinks “running for vice president twice is enough for any American.”
And Tricia McLaughlin, a senior adviser to Mr Ramaswamy, said he “expects to be our next president and is not interested in a VP spot”.
The campaigns of Ms. Haley, Mr. Christie and Mr. Suarez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brett Hayworth contributed reported from Sioux Center, Iowa, and Maggie Haberman from New York.