Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro broke down the shortlist of potential running mates for presumptive 2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump on Friday's “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Former President Trump on choosing a running mate: interview Speaking on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” on Friday, he described his judging process as “a sophisticated version of The Apprentice.”
After discussing Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio during a “Real Time” panel, McCarthy revealed which candidate he thinks “can win the election.”
“Yeah, so Rubio will move to Virginia, just like Cheney did. He left Texas and moved back to Wyoming. He can't come from the same state,” McCarthy said.
“I know, so are you moving?” Maher replied.
Ben Shapiro then noted that Rubio “has spent a good portion of the year in Nevada,” and McCarthy explained that “Rubio will have to resign from the Senate.”[Shapiro]added that Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “will then appoint a replacement.”
“They can't be from the same state,” McCarthy said.
“This is going to be 'The Apprentice,' it's going to be thought-provoking and he's going to have the audience guessing where it is,” McCarthy added.
McCarthy said Rubio would be a “great” running mate for Trump, but the former House speaker then redirected attention to Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who he believes “will win the election.”
“If you really want to be in the game — if you really want to win the election — elect Youngkin in Virginia. Get Youngkin in the game, and the race is over,” McCarthy told panelists on “Real Time.”
McCarthy highlighted Youngkin's popularity in Virginia, where Biden currently leads Trump by 3 percentage points. according to Trump is closing his lead in Virginia, according to FiveThirtyEight's SoCal Research polling data. Biden In 2020, he won the state by 10.1%. (Related: Fox News' Bill Hemmer analyzes President Trump's “Blue Wall” strategy)
“If you do the polls, Trump will win Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, giving him a total of 267 electoral votes,” McCarthy said. “Maine, Oklahoma and Nebraska will be split up.”
“He's got to win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania,” McCarthy continued. “He's got to win one of those three states. He only lost Wisconsin by 20 votes. But the real issue is black Americans are turning their backs on Biden. They're not voting for Trump, but they're not showing up to vote. So he's got to win one of those three states.”
Trump currently leads Biden in four battleground states, with the Republican candidate leading by 5.4% in Arizona and 5.3% in Pennsylvania. Trump also holds a 2.6% lead over Biden in Wisconsin and 0.6% in Michigan. according to to the RealClearPolitics average.
Biden won four battleground states in 2020. The Democratic president won 2.7% of the vote in Michigan and 1.17% of the vote in Pennsylvania. He also won 0.62% of the vote in Wisconsin and 0.3% of the vote in Arizona.
According to reports, Trump is set to announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
