The veepstakes heats up as Trump pulls away

LONDONDERRY, New Hampshire — Forget about Tuesday’s primary. The only real campaign in New Hampshire these days is the high-stakes surrogate battle over who should be Donald Trump’s No. 2.

A raft of contenders to be Trump’s running mate have hit the trail over the past few weeks, touting the former president to voters, attacking the media and sticking the knife into his rivals. Trump hasn’t won the primary yet, but the rush is already on to catch his attention.

The list of those who decamped to the early-voting states of New Hampshire and, before that, Iowa includes — what’s widely perceived to be — a who’s who of potential veeps: Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.). South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson have also made trips to early primary states to stump for Trump.

And then there are Trump’s 2024 rivals-turned-top surrogates. Over the past week, three former presidential candidates, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) not only endorsed Trump but appeared next to him on stage.

“There are a lot of good people out there,” Vance told reporters in New Hampshire, complimenting Stefanik, Scott and Noem.

Trump has peppered confidants with questions about possible candidates. And he has teased that he already knows who his vice president is going to be, a claim that was met with some skepticism among those close to him who say no formal vetting process has begun.

The contenders face the challenge of promoting themselves without being obvious about it. The former president, Trump allies note, dislikes it when people are overly forceful in drawing attention to themselves. But with so many of them now hitting the trail, the process has morphed into a public showcase and trial by fire, with the contenders looking to prove their fealty to Trump — something he prizes above all else — without overdoing it. The Trump campaign declined to comment.

The stakes for his choice are particularly high. Whoever Trump selects is likely to be seen as the former president’s successor-in-waiting. Many of those being mentioned for the vice presidential slot are also seen as prospective 2028 candidates. For the vice presidential contenders, the appearances double as a chance to get in front of Iowa and New Hampshire voters — who will play a critical role in determining the party’s next nominee.

At each of their stops, the contenders are confronting the same question over and over: Would they take the job?

During an appearance at a Londonderry diner Saturday morning, Stefanik was asked by reporters no fewer than four times about her interest in the post. In nearly every instance, she answered by saying she doesn’t talk about her “conversations with the president,” but that she would be “honored” to serve in a Trump administration.

As to whether she was tired of being posed the question, Stefanik said it had been “asked and answered at this point.”

(Vance used the exact same phrase when asked by reporters Friday about his interest in the job, saying the question had been “asked and answered,” and that if Trump “asks me to help, I’m going to help out however I can.”)

Lake — who has emerged as one of Trump’s most forceful defenders and is a prolific campaigner on his behalf — said in Iowa last week that she is focused on running for Senate but would “crawl over broken glass” to vote for him and whoever he chooses as his running mate.

Some are using the stops to defend the former president. While talking with reporters before Trump’s rally on Friday evening — where she appeared onstage — Stefanik was pressed on whether she believed the accusations leveled against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll, who said Trump assaulted her decades ago in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. A jury in New York found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation. Trump has denied the accusations.

“No, of course not,” Stefanik said, when asked repeatedly if she believed Carroll’s claims, calling it another “witch [hunt],” borrowing a favorite Trump phrase.

Others are slashing Trump’s rivals. During an appearance in Rockford on Friday, Vance said Trump’s closest-polling opponent, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, “represents everything that is wrong with the old guard of the Republican Party.”

Some would-be contenders, however, are finding themselves on the outs. During a rally Friday night, Trump threw cold water on speculation he could pick Haley — a prospect that has drawn fierce pushback from Trump allies who view her as insufficiently aligned with his base of supporters.

“She is OK, but she is not presidential timber. And when I say that, that probably means she is not going to be chosen as the vice president,” Trump said of Haley, who has sharply criticized Trump during the closing days of the primary.

The feeling was mutual. At a campaign stop in Amherst, New Hampshire, Haley declared she doesn’t “want to be anybody’s vice president. That is off the table.”

Trump’s closest allies are among those taking stock of the vice presidential candidates. Among those in the audience to see Vance was John Fredericks, a pro-Trump radio host who frequently has the ex-president on his show.

Fredericks said Trump had a lot of different prospects, and that Vance was among them.

“I’m a fan of J.D. Vance,” Fredericks said. “He’s never wavered on his MAGA positions.”