John Bolton ‘Wouldn’t Put It Past’ Trump To Pull This Running Mate Stunt

Former Trump White House national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday predicted how former President Donald Trump could end up delaying the announcement of his vice presidential pick.

“I don’t think Trump has made a decision yet” on who will be his running mate, Bolton told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins . “I think we have to remember with Trump it’s never final until it’s final and then sometimes it’s still not final.”

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sens. J.D. Vance (Ohio) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) are the favorites to join the presumptive GOP presidential nominee on the ticket, Bolton noted.

Bolton said he “wouldn’t put it past” his onetime boss Trump, of whom he is now a fierce critic, to “have the Republican National Convention put off the vice presidential nomination for two weeks, for three weeks […] to see what the Democrats are up to with [President] Joe Biden by that point.”

Is Trump waiting to “make a pick based on what Dems do?” asked Collins, referencing calls among Democrats for Biden to quit his campaign following his debate performance.

“Look, there’s no news that’s going to come out of the Republican National Convention other than the vice presidential nomination,” replied Bolton. “Why waste it in a week when the Democrats may still be talking about whether Joe Biden’s competent to be president? I’m not saying he’s going to do it, but Trump will look for every opportunity to delay this.”

Bolton also detailed what Trump is looking for in his running mate.

The “highest priority is absolute personal loyalty to him,” he said. The vice presidential interview questionnaire likely has “only two questions on it,” he added. The first, “Do you think the 2020 election was stolen?” The second, “If I told you to do what I told Mike Pence to do on Jan. 6, would you do it?”