Trump on Friday said he was still deciding among as many as five names and that he had changed his mind multiple times
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump will make his final campaign stop Saturday before formally accepting his party’s nomination, visiting swing-state Pennsylvania, as he looks to build suspense over his vice presidential pick among both voters and the final contenders themselves.
The former president has teased out the process, appearing to play mind games with the candidates, in a bid to ramp up the intrigue and anticipation. Trump on Friday said he was still deciding among as many as five names and that he had changed his mind multiple times — likening the forthcoming announcement to his onetime televised reality show.
“It’s like a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice,” Trump said.
The rally will be in the town of Butler in rural Pennsylvania, just a few hours away from the home of Ohio Senator JD Vance, whom Trump named as one of the names in the mix to be his No. 2, along with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina, in a radio interview Friday.
Vance, a rising star in the Republican Party, rocketed to fame with his memoir Hillbilly Elegy — a story about his White, working class upbringing, and has embraced the former president’s brand of populist politics.
Trump’s drawn out decision making has seen his potential running mates look to burnish their credentials by tapping their donor networks to help boost his war chest, appearing in media as surrogates and by joining the former president at campaign events.
Representatives for Vance haven’t yet said whether the senator would attend the rally.
Rubio will not be at the Pennsylvania rally but joined Trump at an event earlier this week in his home state that epitomized how the presumptive Republican nominee is handling the VP selection process.
The campaign touted the event ahead of time as one where he could make his announcement, and Trump teased Rubio throughout, including suggesting at one point that he might not be a senator for much longer.
Trump has even kept political watchers uncertain as to the timing of the announcement, saying he wanted to make the announcement during the convention — which starts Monday in Milwaukee — even as he acknowledged the logistical challenges. The party will need to nominate both Trump and his running mate for the ticket.
Earlier: Trump Teases Rubio at Miami Rally as VP Announcement Nears
Saturday’s rally comes at a pivotal point in the campaign, with Trump gaining in swing-state polls while his general election rival President Joe Biden is fighting to put down a Democratic rebellion that seeks his ouster from the ticket after a disastrous first debate.
Trump largely stayed silent in the days after the debate while Biden struggled to deal with the media scrutiny and Democratic backlash, and the former president returned to the trail with his Miami rally on Tuesday.
Trump’s campaign schedule is vastly different from what was expected just a week ago. The sentencing hearing for his felony conviction in the New York hush-money trial was postponed after the US Supreme Court decision ruling that presidents have some immunity from criminal charges.
Pennsylvania is Biden’s home state — and crucial to his efforts to secure a second term. The incumbent flipped the state from Trump in 2020 to clinch victory but polls show him facing a tough climb in 2024. A July Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found Trump leads Biden 51 per cent to 44 per cent in Pennsylvania — his largest lead in any of the seven swing states in the survey.
The rally venue, Butler, offers friendly territory for Trump as Biden has struggled to sell his economic agenda to blue-collar or rural voters in such communities across the country. An internal memo from the Trump allied super political action committee, Make America Great Again Inc., detailed plans to target voters in Pennsylvania and other swing states.
Highlighting the importance of the state, Vice President Kamala Harris will also be in Pennsylvania on Saturday for a campaign event.
—With assistance from Stephanie Lai.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.