Because of their shared Florida residence, Sen. Marco Rubio was never seriously considered as a running mate for former President Donald Trump.
An anonymous source who was privy to the talks said that Rubio and the Trump team had discussed potential solutions to the residency dilemma throughout the past 10 days.
Their goal, according to the source, was to have complete faith in the applicable legal framework. “No one was keen on the idea of a protracted legal battle following the election.”
One of the presidential and vice presidential candidates “shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves,” according to the 12th Amendment, which states that the members of the Electoral College vote for the president and vice president.
If Republicans had won Florida, 30 electors could not have cast their ballots because of a Trump-Rubio ticket. Even after relocating, Rubio would have been vulnerable to a court challenge from Democrats or another outside force.
The individual said it had been a “pure residency question” when asked if there had been any discussion of granting former primary opponent Ron DeSantis the authority to choose a successor to the seat in the event that Rubio was elected.
At this time, neither the timing nor the source of the news have been disclosed to Rubio. Last week, Rubio attended a rally in Doral, Florida, with Trump. Throughout the night, the former president teased him about being on his short list, but Rubio had no idea he would not be chosen.
In a private chat, Trump referred to Rubio as a “tremendously strong candidate” and stated that the former president “thinks of him as an important leader for our party and our movement,” according to an anonymous source familiar with Trump’s reasoning.