With Donald Trump moving closer to being the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee in 2024, a Southwest Florida Congressman is confident that he could serve the former President’s running mate.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds said he would be up for the job if it was offered to him.
“There’s a lot of people in our party, who frankly have asked if I’m going to be the VP and I keep saying, ‘Look, it’s not my call. That’s Donald Trump’s call and I’m going to support whatever he does.’ But could I do that job? Yeah, I could,” Donalds said on the Will Cain Show.
He acknowledged that Trump is “going to make that decision,” but he “would” do the job, because “it’s about putting this country in position to be successful.”
Donalds knows some may be skeptical that he has the chops, but cited legislative experience both in Florida’s Legislature and Washington, D.C., as well as his roots in “the inner city” of Brooklyn, New York.
“Some people might be like, ‘Well, you know, you’re a two-term congressman, what makes you think that you could be on that list?'”
Like many of those who have been identified as potential Trump running mates, Donalds has worked as a surrogate, explaining away seeming gaffes from the former President in that capacity.
After Trump said his indictments made Black voters more likely to support him because they’ve been “hurt and discriminated against,” Donalds offered an uncompromising defense of the comments on Meet the Press. He said he “understood” what Trump was saying.
“This is something similar that Black people have had to deal with the justice system themselves,” Donalds said. “Their look of it is real simple: Well dang, if the government is going after him with foolishness he can’t be that bad, especially considering the fact that Joe Biden is terrible at his job.”