Trump wants to test personal loyalty of VP candidates with two questions: John Bolton
Former President Donald Trump’s prospective running mates may be asked only two questions when the presumptive Republican nominee interviews them, according to an ex-Trump administration official.
Appearing on CNN’s “The Source” with Kaitlan Collins, former national security adviser John Bolton revealed the straightforward method through which he thinks Trump will select his running mate.
“I think the highest priority is absolute personal loyalty to him [Trump] and I’m afraid the vice presidential interview questionnaire has only two questions on it,” Bolton said Tuesday.
The two questions were related to their opinions of the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021.
“Number 1, do you think the 2020 election was stolen? And number 2, ‘If I told you to do what I told [Vice President] Mike Pence to do on Jan. 6, would you do it?'” Bolton speculated.
The former West Wing senior aide said the candidate who answered “Yes” to both questions will move on to the next step.
“And if they are a ‘No,’ you’re out of it,” he added.
During the show, Collins mentioned the three widely presumed candidates who are on Trump’s shortlist: Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
“It would be a great loss of integrity for any of those people if they said ‘Yes’ to both those questions,” Bolton said.
Trump is expected to name his VP pick next week, with Burgum, 67, and Vance, 39, as the front-runners while Rubio, 53, still has an outside chance, sources told The Post on Monday.
However, Bolton doesn’t believe Trump selected his running mate and is waiting for the Democrats and President Biden to decide on the future of the octogenarian incumbent’s re-election bid.
“I think what we have to remember with Trump is, it’s never final ’til it’s final and then sometimes it’s still not final,” Bolton remarked.
Bolton doesn’t think Trump should announce his running mate during next week’s Republican National Convention, which is being held in Milwaukee, Wis., from July 15 to 18.
“There’s no news that is gonna come out of the Republican National Convention, other than the vice presidential nomination, why waste it in a week when the Democrats may still be talking about whether Joe Biden is competent to be president.”
Calls for Biden, 81, to drop out have ramped up following his disastrous debate performance against Trump and then several gaffes committed by the president in the days following the political clash.
Bolton recalled how Pence was loyal to Trump, but was also the final voice of reason for the 45th president and got him to do the “right thing even when the rest of them failed.”
“I don’t know whether these three are capable of doing that, honestly,” Bolton said, taking a light jab at the VP hopefuls.
Earlier in the show, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said he believes Trump could be victorious in the November general election.
“Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide,” the Colorado senator said during an appearance on CNN.
“This race is on a trajectory that is very worrisome if you care about the future of this country,” Bennet said, stopping short of calling on Biden to end his re-election bid.
