Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the man Donald Trump once dubbed “Little Marco,” is now vying to be his 2024 vice presidential pick.
And due to a ”technical glitch” in the Constitution, it may be difficult for both the VP and president to be from the same state, which means Mr Rubio may have to leave Florida.
On Fox News Sunday, host Shannon Bream asked whether the Florida Senator would leave the state of Florida or change his residency if he were asked to join Mr Trump’s 2024 ticket.
In short, the Republican lawmaker didn’t answer her question.
He did, however, say, that Mr Trump is “going to have an extremely talented group of people that can serve this country in multiple roles, and that’s a decision he’s going to have to make.”
He added, “Leaving me aside for a moment, I think that before anyone decides to move from their state, you better make sure you don’t move to a state where there’s not some DA [district attorney] that makes a career after going after Republicans.”
Senator Rubio seemed to be referring to the ongoing hush money trial in New York that was brought by the Manhattan DA’s office. Mr Trump is now standing criminal trial, with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments given to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Mr Trump.
Bream then joked, “So, if you do move, not to New York. That won’t be your choice.”
The Fox News host then said there could be a “technical glitch with having two people from the same state when it comes down to an Electoral College vote,” should Mr Rubio be named as Mr Trump’s running mate.
She was referring to the 12th Amendment, which states that after a presidential election, “the Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.”
This could become a problem when Florida electors cast their votes, should a Trump-Rubio ticket emerge, since both men are from the same state as those electors.
But the former president has yet to unveil his 2024 running mate.
Mr Rubio has been considered to be on the former president’s shortlist of potential running mates, and was one of a handful of possible veep contenders at Mar-a-Lago this weekend for a RNC donor retreat.
The evolution of Mr Trump and Mr Rubio’s relationship from infamous feuds to potential running mates is astounding.
Both men ran for the 2016 GOP nominee, and their online spats quickly devolved into name-calling and jokes about the other’s physical appearance. Most notably, Mr Trump labeled the Florida Senator “Little Rubio” while Mr Rubio suggested that Mr Trump had “small hands.”