Senator Marco Rubio is apparently playing hardball when it comes to beating out the competition and becoming Donald Trump’s vice president, the New York Times reports.
Thanks to his behind-the-scenes support, Rubio has become a “leading candidate” for vice president, the New York Times reported, citing Trump advisers.
According to the Times, Rubio has not been keen to join the president at rallies or hang out at his home at Mar-a-Lago. Instead, he became an “occasional political advisor” to Trump.
But Rubio’s approach to supporting Trump apparently confused the former president, who “wondered privately how much the senator wanted the job,” the Times wrote, citing two people close to Trump.
Rubio is one of more than a dozen Republican figures vying to become Trump’s 2024 running mate, but the former president and the Florida senator haven’t always been friendly.
The senator ran against Trump in the 2016 GOP primary election, where both candidates hurled insults at each other. Trump called Rubio “Little Marco Rubio,” and Rubio fired back by saying Trump had small hands. Rubio later came to regret the insult.
The two men moved beyond schoolyard insults and supported each other politically. In 2022, Trump opposed Rubio’s Senate campaign. On Thursday, Trump named Rubio among those likely to join his ticket during an interview with local cable at his New York rally.
Marco Rubio ranks third in Business Insider’s ranking of potential Trump vice presidents — although Rubio faces the challenge of deciding whether he will leave Florida. The 12th Amendment states that a presidential or vice-presidential candidate “shall not be an inhabitant of the same State.”
The Times reported that Trump isn’t moving, but Rubio is willing to break away from his home state to run alongside Trump.
Representatives for Rubio and Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
businessinsider
