Trump’s vice presidential candidates attend Atlanta debate to denounce Trump’s record and make their case

Sen. J.D. Vance, Sen. Marco Rubio, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum are among those scheduled to appear at the debate.

Sue Lynn Kim, Hannah Demissie, Larry Ibsa, Kelsey Walsh, Julian Kim, and Galen Druke

June 28, 2024 5:01 AM

As former President Donald Trump and his team continue to hint at a running mate, the vice presidential candidates gathered in Atlanta on Thursday to support the former president at the debate and make the case that they are the best choice for the position.

Vice presidential candidates The vice presidential candidates, including Sen. J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, have hundreds of campaign surrogates. Trump is expected to attend the debate in Atlanta and in the post-debate spin room with Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, and Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Reuters/Getty Images Trump is scheduled to leave his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach for Atlanta on Thursday afternoon, and a senior Trump campaign adviser told ABC News that Trump is confident and ready to meet with him. Trump was scheduled to speak on the debate stage on Thursday afternoon, but the Trump campaign is currently fundraising for its long-awaited vice presidential pick, suggesting that a candidate may attend the debate. “Would you like to meet my VP during the debate? You can, but you won’t know until I officially announce who my VP is!” read a Trump campaign fundraising email sent to supporters on Thursday morning. Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Path to the Majority policy conference at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, June 22, 2024.

Samuel Collum/Getty Images

Trump has said for weeks that he plans to announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention next month. Trump recently hinted that a running mate could be in the room with him in Atlanta, and told speakers at a campaign event in Philadelphia this week that a running mate would “probably” be in the audience at the debate.

Trump has been asking supporters at fundraisers in recent months who they would like to see as their running mate. He has also sent fundraising emails to small donors with a similar question.

Vance, Rubio, Burgum and others on the running for vice president list stayed put on the day of the debate, but were preparing to show their support for the Republican candidate. Trump surrogates have been on the road with the media, held a small campaign event in Atlanta on Wednesday and made a television appearance early Thursday morning.

Senator Tim Scott speaks as former President Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally at the Grappone Convention Center in Concord, New Hampshire, on January 19, 2024.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, File

When asked in a taped interview with “Fox & Friends” if Trump helped him prepare for the debate, Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina said he told Trump to “never forget Joe Biden’s provocative racist past.”

“Donald Trump has done more to advance economic progress from a racial standpoint than any president in my lifetime,” Scott added. “That’s what he should be focusing on.”

When asked by CNN on Thursday morning if he expects Trump to talk about looking forward as a nation rather than looking back at the past during the debate, Republican Rep. Byron Donald of Florida said he is positive, but that he may still speak out about the 2020 presidential election, the hush money trial and the ruling.

Radio host Shelley Winter and Rep. Byron Donald hold hands during an informal roundtable discussion led by Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump during a campaign appearance for the Black American Business Leaders Barbershop Roundtable at Rocky’s Barbershop in Atlanta, June 26, 2024.

Megan Berner/Reuters

“Anyone who campaigned with the president, and I campaigned with him, if you listen to everything he says, you’ll hear that he has a lot to say, a lot to say about what’s going on in this country, inflation, the border, foreign policy, all the issues that really matter to the American people,” Donald asserted.

Donald, along with Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt, made multiple campaign surrogate visits in Atlanta on Wednesday, trying to woo black voters to Trump and Wesley Hunt. On Wednesday, Trump visited a barbershop, praising the administration’s record and CNN prior to Thursday’s debate, and reiterated his claim that he’s gaining traction from the Black community due to his indictments.

“Since that happened, the Black support, I think my representatives will tell you this, the Black support has gone through the roof and, I guess they equated to problems that they’ve had,” Trump declared.

At the watch party on Thursday evening, Trump is expected to give remarks after the debate, along with Burgum, Vance, Rubio, Donalds, Hunt, along with Rep. Elise Stefanik, the former Trump Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Sen. Lindsey Graham are scheduled to be featured guests.