Donald Trump’s search for a running mate is intensifying as the former president awaits his felony conviction and prepares for next month’s Republican National Convention.
Vice presidential candidates recently received vetting materials, five sources familiar with the process told NBC News.
Trump’s search is heavily focused on four top candidates, according to one source: North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina and JD Vance of Ohio. Another source described a three-way match involving Burgum, Rubio and Vance.
However, it is unclear who all have been asked to provide audit data that could rule them out or exclude them. Burgum, who has spent more time with Trump in recent weeks, is among those who received a request, a source familiar with the inquiry said. Advisors to Burgum and other potential running mates declined or did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Sources involved in conversations about the search cautioned that Trump is working from a fluid shortlist that sometimes includes more than half a dozen names. Additions, subtractions and the emergence of dark horse candidates remain possible.
Others mentioned as potential running mates include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Byron Donalds of Florida, and Ben Carson, who served as Trump’s Housing and Urban Development secretary -government.
Trump and his advisers have kept a close eye on the search, which was relatively uneventful until recently, when Trump stood trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying company records in connection with a hush money payment to an adult film actor. Trump has said in interviews that a decision on his running mate likely won’t come until closer to the convention, which starts July 15 in Milwaukee. In 2016, he announced then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate, days before that year’s nominating convention in Cleveland.
Last month, NBC News reported that the Trump campaign had not yet gone beyond initial in-depth investigations into potential running mates; at the time, no questionnaires had been sent out that might have helped clear the field. That changed last week, as the case neared its conclusion and a jury found Trump guilty on all counts.
The trial became an unofficial audition stage for VP contenders. Both Burgum and Vance, as well as long-term prospects like Donalds, joined Trump in the courthouse and have frequently defended him on TV.
When asked in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday whether he was interested in getting a ticket for a “convicted felon,” Vance responded.
“Well, Wolf, the whole point of this process was to get the media and the Democrats to say exactly that,” Vance said. “This was never about justice. This was about mocking a ‘convicted criminal’ on the air, when in reality the only thing Donald Trump is guilty of is being in the courtroom of a political mock trial.”
Burgum, who was at the courthouse with Trump on the day of the sentencing, quickly turned to flattery in an interview on Newsmax that evening when asked if he was being vetted for vice president.
“There’s a lot of fuss about it,” Burgum replied. “I’m just saying that President Trump is so strong right now that he could be elected without a vice president.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
