Trump Was About to Pick Burgum as VP Before Don Jr. and Eric Went ‘Batsh*t Crazy’ and Talked Him Into Vance: NBC

Screenshot via MSNBC

Former President Donald Trump was on the verge of picking Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) as his running mate — before his sons convinced him to select Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), a new report reveals.

According to NBC News — which quoted a longtime Republican operative familiar with the VP deliberations — Trump’s sons went ballistic over the prospect of Burgum at the bottom of the ticket.

“Don Jr. and Eric went bats— crazy: ‘Why would you do something so stupid? He offers us nothing,’” the operative told NBC. “They were basically all like ‘JD, JD, JD,’”

Trump, according to the report, had lengthy conversations with each of his three finalists — Burgum, Vance and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — late last week. Trump was said to have seen Rubio’s Florida residency as an insurmountable obstacle — as the Constitution prevents a state’s electors from voting for both a presidential and a vice presidential candidate from their home state, meaning Florida electors could not vote for both Trump and Rubio.

And as for Burgum, the clincher against him — the report suggests — could well have been a supportive Fox News hit from famed Republican strategist Karl Rove, who is persona non grata in MAGA world. NBC reports Don Jr. immediately shared a Breitbart article with Trump detailing Rove’s praise for Burgum — which was not well received by Trump.

Rove’s praise of Burgum on Fox News was just one glowing endorsement for the North Dakota governor in the Rupert Murdoch media empire. And NOTUS previously reported Murdoch himself lobbied Trump personally to go with Burgum. But NOTUS adds Trump still harbors ill will against Murdoch for pushing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in the GOP primary.