They called Donald Trump said he was “unsafe”, “reckless” and “disgraceful” and would not do business with him.
Now they are all vying to serve as his assistant.
For some, the criticism dates back nearly a decade, during the former president’s first campaign or early in his time in the White House. For others, records came as recently as last year. What they all have in common is that at some point they have taken issue with Trump’s character, agenda or campaign.
But longtime Trump allies have said in conversations that those past criticisms may not disqualify the former president, who is known for sticking to grievances — a gauge of how loyal his potential running mates will be.
“He’s going to look at it more holistically than ever,” said one longtime Trump ally. “Everyone is guilty in one way or another. The only question is whether something is a mortal sin.”
Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller pointed to the 2020 Democratic primary campaign when Vice President Kamala Harris sharply criticized President Joe Biden. record his “very damaging” comments about the bus and working with segregationist senators, as evidence that there was nothing unusual about such anti-Trump criticism of Trump’s candidates in the past.
“It’s important to keep in mind that politics is ultimately politics,” Miller said. “Kamala Harris described Joe Biden as a racist who opposes public school integration and pretty much said that Biden is talking to a former leader of the KKK in Robert Byrd. By comparison, President Trump and his future VP picks will be much more sympathetic.”
Three Trump allies familiar with the process said the loyalty test will focus on whether the candidate has stood by the former president since the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, and if and how he has corroborated conspiracy claims about the 2020 election. described. they fiercely defended him among themselves four separate criminal cases he comes across as particularly hostile in television interviews.
There are other factors Trump is considering. Like NBC News the position of the candidate was stated earlier abortionwhat a prolific fundraiser they are and if they fit well vs. Harris in the debate.
However, the previous anti-Trump statements did not go unnoticed. NBC News reports on Wednesday those who are leading the way Currently, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, JD Vance of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina are among the candidates, though sources cautioned that the short list is fluid.
Rubio while campaigning against Trump in 2016 warned In the years to come, “there will be a lot of people on the right, in the media, and in the electorate in general, who will have to explain and justify how they fell into the trap of supporting Donald Trump.” He said Trump’s “reckless and dangerous” and “it will hurt America”.
Vance described In 2016, he identified himself as “The Guy Who Never Was Trump” and called Trump “stupid,” “harmful,” and “deserving of abuse.”
In 2017, Scott took issue with Trump’s handling of a white nationalist rally and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, criticizing the then-president for equalizing protesters and counter-protesters, and saying There is “no doubt” that Trump has “compromised” his “moral authority”. Moreover, during the presidential campaign, Scott admitted on the debate stage that then-Vice President Mike Pence had done the right thing by refusing to reject voters who had duly confirmed Biden as president on January 6.
It was Burgum who spent less time in the national spotlight reluctantly he mentioned Trump when he campaigned against the presidency during the short-term primary election and did not condemn his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But the businessman-turned-politician told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Chuck Todd last year that he didn’t want to do business with Trump.
“It’s just important that you’re judged by the company you keep,” Burgum said before Chuck Todd asked him to clarify.
“No, I wouldn’t,” said Burgum.
The governor of North Dakota always was reluctantly He would never condone Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election by saying Trump’s name while campaigning against him in the GOP primaries.
Other potential running mates have similar moments in their pasts. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who has become a staunch Trump loyalist, once called him a “hit job.” post Retrieved from The New York Times. He also said in a radio interview that Trump “insults women” and predicted that Trump’s candidacy would hurt the GOP’s ability to appeal to women voters.
In a recent interview with Fox News’ Shannon Bream, Stefanik responded to Bream when he recalled what the leading New York Republican had said about the former president over the years.
“It’s a disgrace that The New York Times should quote anonymous, faceless false sources,” he said.
They are hardly alone on the right. For years, Trump has mended relations with Republicans who were once harsh critics of him, only to later make amends and publicly embrace Trump.
“Nobody’s clean on this,” said one Republican operative close to Trump, who said he was close to a potential VP pick, pointing to criticism leveled by candidates in the past, including Republicans challenging him for the party’s presidential nomination.
The person also noted that Trump nodded to past criticisms of Vance at a recent Republican National Committee retreat at Mar-a-Lago. Trump said of Vance: “You know he was not my supporter. She said, “The guy is a complete disaster!” he said things like
“I think it’s always in the back of his mind,” the person said. However, they said the real test of loyalty for Trump is not whether someone criticizes him, but “Where were you when Trump became president and at times that didn’t matter only to the VP?”
“It shows loyalty,” he said.
Trump wouldn’t be the first major-party candidate to address the former critic. President Ronald Reagan chose George HW Bush as his running mate in the 1980 GOP primary after Bush criticized his then-opponent. Biden also chose Harris after this headline-grabbing moment. But perhaps no major-party presumptive nominee in modern times has considered such an extensive list of former critics for the role.
Current candidates have in some cases spent years on the job to win their past criticisms. Vance expressed regret for what he said and developed a relationship with Trump before the former president endorsed him in a hotly contested Senate race in Ohio in 2022, becoming one of his staunchest allies in the Senate after his election that fall.
Scott has developed a strong relationship with Trump, working on a number of policy issues, and met with him in person after Charlottesville, a meeting that led to Scott saying that Trump “owns Trump.”is clearly reflected” expressed his opinion.
Burgum, who had little relationship with Trump before his presidential bid, quickly appeared with him at many events and attended a Manhattan trial, as did Vance.
Rubio, meanwhile After the 2016 election, he buried his differences with Trump and worked with him on politics. On Jan. 6, he said Trump was “responsible for some of what happened,” but called the second impeachment trial “stupid” and voted to acquit him. Rubio also mocked the House Select Committee to investigate on Jan. 6.
Stefanik was Trump’s bulldog defender during the first impeachment trial, a role he has relished ever since.
How they will deal with the results of this upcoming election has also been in the spotlight. In 2020, Rubio voted to accept voters who confirmed Biden’s victory, but NBC News reported that “Meet the press” last month, he would not commit to accepting the results this fall if Biden wins. Scott also confirmed the 2020 results and he said at the beginning He nominated for the presidency last year that he will not cancel the election he lost. similar Last month he would not make an unequivocal commitment.
“In 2015, 2016 or early 2017, I don’t think Trump cared that much if you criticized him,” said one pro-Trump operative. “Go look at some of his biggest allies — a lot of them were critical. The bigger problem for him is the hostage takers after Jan. 6 or the people who went after him with DeSantis.”
“You know who you didn’t see on the VP shortlist? Anyone who supports DeSantis,” the person added, referring to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House aide and prominent right-wing media figure, said he didn’t think those past criticisms would weigh heavily on Trump now, pointing to how Vance and Trump handled it all during the Senate primary. 2022.
Bannon – who ruled on Thursday ordered to go to prison until July 1 to begin serving a four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress — said the real battle for the VP seat is between Trump loyalists who like the nominees he envisions and donors who want former US ambassador Nikki Haley on the ticket.
Bannon predicted that there would be a “rashborka” at the convention because donors “believe they can force the issue of who is the VP.”
“They don’t want the governor of North Dakota,” he said. “They want Nikki Haley.”
Haley, who said she would vote for Trump at the end of last month, criticized him towards the end of the presidential campaign this year. During an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday, Trump said he was “very disappointed with her for staying so long.”
“Some people would be very disappointed if I chose him, and maybe some people would be fine,” he said. “But I beat him by a lot. “I mean, he was the last, but that doesn’t mean he did the best job outside of me.”
A longtime Trump ally explained that “all sins are forgiven” for Trump-skeptic Republicans if they get on board after the Indiana primary. This time, the person said, the claimants would struggle or face obstacles if they “came off the reservation recently.”
“He’ll appreciate the voice support,” this person said. “It’s going to reward people who actually rely on testing, paying, it’s going to reward this stuff in a meaningful way. And so, yes, [the criticism may be a] tiebreaker, of course. But it will be whole. There is a component of innovation in all these things that people say or do.”