Former President and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump announced on Monday he has chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate ahead of the November elections, passing over Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said that Vance will be "strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and far beyond..."
Trump also recalled Vance's CV, saying that he "honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association."
The decision means Rubio will not become the first Latino to be part of the presidential ticket in one of the country's two major parties. Doug Burgum was among the final contenders who did not make the ticket.
Trump unveiled his pick on the first day of the Republican National Convention, which kicked off on Monday. Rubio was among those vetted as potential VPs and analysts highlighted his potential appeal to to fellow Latinos, which has been one of his goals along the campaign trail.
Rubio grew up in a working-class family in Miami, Florida, which he has made a focal point of his political career. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in political science and went on to study law at the University of Miami Law School.
Since he came into mainstream politics, Rubio has been seen as a rising star that could diversify the party's electorate. He launched his presidential bid in April 2015 and became the youngest person to enter the race at 43 years old.
The two Republicans ran for president in 2016, a race that Trump would eventually win. In that contest, they exchanged heated insults, including some thinly veiled shots at each other's manhood. Trump nicknamed Rubio "Little Marco" during that campaign, and Rubio fired back saying that Trump had "small hands."
Their relationship improved as Rubio backed Trump's White House agenda and endorsed him right before January's Iowa caucuses this year.
Both Trump and Rubio claim residency in Florida, which would have been an issue since the 12th Amendment to the Constitution states that presidential and vice presidential candidates running on the same ticket "shall not be an inhabitant of the same states with themselves."
So, if Trump had selected Rubio as his running mate, electors from Florida could not vote for both Trump and Rubio under the Amendment. But it would be fine for electors from the other 49 states to vote for both.
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