'I love my job': Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin again deflects talk of possible Trump VP run

PETERSBURG, Va. – Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday called discussion of him as a potential vice-presidential nominee “an out-of-body moment” but still will not acknowledge interest in joining the ticket with Donald Trump.

“There’s an enormous amount of talent in the Republican party,” Youngkin said following a morning appearance in Petersburg celebrating the city’s growing pharmaceutical industry. “Whoever the Republican party chooses, the president chooses to be his running mate will be better than our current vice president.”

Asked directly about his chances of joining the ticket, Youngkin demurred.

“I love my job. I love what we’re doing in Virginia,” he said. “I wake up every morning with a spring in my step, and I go to work knowing Virginia is absolutely on a roll and it’s exciting to see it happen.”

Youngkin, a northern Virginia businessperson whose first foray into politics was winning the governorship in 2021 , is among a group of names bantered about as a running mate for Trump as he seeks to win back the White House in November. After first being touted as a possible more moderate alternative to Trump and his MAGA following, Youngkin has since fallen in line with other GOP leaders endorsing the former president.

He joined Trump for a recent rally in Chesapeake, Va., and has spoken ebulliently about the GOP platform and its presumptive nominee at several opportunities. He is expected to have a featured role at next week’s Republican convention in Milwaukee that will likely boost his national profile.

Red to blue to ... purple?

After 40 years of supporting Republican presidential tickets, Virginia about-faced in 2008 to support Democrat Barack Obama, driven mostly on the political muscle of northern Virginia. Since then, the commonwealth has been true blue – Biden won by 10 percentage points over Trump in 2020.

Youngkin’s somewhat-surprising victory in 2021 over former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe led a GOP sweep of the state’s top three elected offices. That fueled Republican hopes that Virginia could go back to red in 2024.

The commonwealth is one of several battleground states where both parties are expected to unleash major pushes. In addition to northern Virginia, urban areas such as Richmond, Petersburg and Norfolk are among Democrats’ strongest bases.

Eighty-eight percent of Virginia is rural, according to statistics from the Virginia Department of Health. However, only 26% of its population is considered rural-dwelling.

Getting ‘love’ from key Republicans

While most pundits think Trump will go for a more familiar face as a running mate like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, some within the party are not yet willing to count Youngkin out. During an appearance last weekend on CBS’ “Face The Nation,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham – a staunch Trump ally both in the White House and on the political trail – name-dropped Youngkin when asked about possible ticket mates.

“There's somebody not being talked about that should be, in my view, [and that] is Youngkin from Virginia,” Graham said. “If we win Virginia, we win. It is over.”

Youngkin smiled when asked about Graham’s comment.

“When someone describes me in that way, I sit there and think about it as an out-of-body moment,” he said. “Because the reality of course is, I am focused on Virginia, and I’ve been in politics for three years, and I believe we’ve made a huge, huge step forward in the commonwealth, and therefore, I’m just humbled by it.”

Every state a ‘border state’

At the appearance in Petersburg, Youngkin pivoted from talking about a place on the ticket to putting Virginia “in play” come November.

“This election will be a real statement about a choice for strength over weakness,” he said. “President Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris have exhibited weakness – weakness from a foreign policy standpoint, a weak economy, weakness at the border. And I believe Virginia’s in play because Virginians are ready to vote for strength, and that’s exactly what President Trump stands for, a strong economy, a strong national security footprint and strength at the border to stop the chaos.

“We have seen every state turn into a border state,” Youngkin added. “It must stop. That’s why I think strength will matter.”

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: 'I love my job': Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin again deflects talk of possible Trump VP run