Former President Donald Trump is all but ruling out an alliance with his biggest rival for the Republican nomination.
Trump addressed the prospect of selecting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as his vice presidential running mate in a Monday radio episode of the Todd Starnes Show, according to Florida’s Voice.
Trump all but ruled out the possibility — while declining to completely close the door on the idea.
“I don’t like saying anything is like, impossible, but it’s pretty unlikely, I would think,” the former president said.
President Trump tells Todd Starnes Show it is highly unlikely that he will pick DeSantis as his running mate.
“I don’t like saying anything is like, impossible, but it’s pretty unlikely I would think,” Trump said.
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) June 5, 2023
Trump suggested DeSantis’ decision to challenge him for the Republican nomination may have cost him a chance to receive a vice presidential nod.
“I was very surprised that he did,” Trump said, per Florida’s Voice, of the governor’s decision to run for president.
“Without that, it would have been a distinct possibility.”
Trump repeatedly has taken credit for DeSantis’ election as governor of Florida, suggesting he is responsible for his rival’s political career.
“Look, Rob DeSanctimonious came to me asking for help. He was losing badly, by 31 points, to popular Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam,” Trump said of DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign in a May Truth Social message.
“With 3 LARGE TRUMP RALLIES, he WON THE GENERAL ELECTION in an upset. DISLOYAL!!!”
DeSantis has proved more willing to criticize Trump’s tendency to address him with nicknames since announcing his presidential campaign, doing so in a Thursday New Hampshire radio broadcast, according to Florida’s Voice.
“I think it’s so petty. I think it’s so juvenile,” DeSantis said.
“I don’t think that’s what voters want, and honestly, I think that his conduct, which he’s been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now.”
If Trump wins the Republican nomination and eyes DeSantis as a potential vice presidential pick, there would be an obscure constitutional obstacle.
Electoral College voters from Florida would be barred from voting for a Trump-DeSantis presidential ticket — in the event they were both running as citizens of Florida.
Article II of the Constitution requires electors to vote for one person who is not from their home state, jeopardizing Florida’s Electoral College votes in such a scenario, according to History.
Because they are both from Florida he can’t have Desantis as VP legally.