CNN’s Jake Tapper and Jeff Zeleny spent a few minutes handicapping the Donald Trump “veepstakes” on Monday’s edition of The Lead, when the conversation turned to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Speculation abounds as to whom Trump – the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – will choose as his running mate. The shortlist reportedly includes Rubio.
“They fought each other for the Republican nomination,” Tapper noted of the senator and Trump in 2016.
“We all remember those fiery debates when the two would stand on stage,” Zeleny said. “And Marco Rubio, at the time, took great pleasure in making fun of Donald Trump. All that is in the past.”
He noted that the former hosted Rubio and his wife for dinner at the White House.
“There is no one who has been on the record so much against Trump who has completely changed his tune,” Zeleny stated. “He is absolutely a strong defender of Donald Trump.”
Zeleny noted that like Trump, Rubio also resides in Florida. He then repeated a popular misconception that it is unconstitutional for a president and the vice president to be from the same state.
“One challenge, of course, he is a resident of Florida,” Zeleny said. “Trump, also a resident of Florida. The Constitution essentially prohibits that. It’s not been attested. Would he move someplace else? Would Trump ignore that?”
“Yeah, I do remember when Bush picked Cheney, they were both Texas residents, and Cheney just moved back to his home state of Wyoming,” Tapper said. “Theoretically, I guess Trump could move to New York just because Marco Rubio doesn’t have anywhere to move back to.”
“I don’t think Trump’s moving anywhere, though,” Zeleny said. “That’s the question. Is Rubio going to move somewhere else?”
The constitutional provision in question is the Twelfth Amendment, which does not impose a residency requirement on presidential tickets. Rather, it states that presidential electors cannot cast a ballot for more than one person who is from their own state.
“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,” the amendment reads.
This would mean that if Trump chooses Rubio and neither moves his residence outside of Florida, the state’s 30 electors could only cast ballots for Trump or Rubio, but not both.
Florida went for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
Watch above via CNN.
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