A number of practical and constitutional hurdles may prevent a joint Republican 2024 ticket between former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The former president discussed the topic in a recent interview.
Trump put cold water on the idea of a joint ticket between the two major Republican leaders.
The former president stated that such an idea was “a very unlikely alliance.”
Trump made these comments to Newsmax, adding that he had “never thought of” joining together with the Florida governor.
Trump added that he was “not looking to attack Republicans.”
The former president notably endorsed DeSantis, a former representative, in the 2018 Republican primary. DeSantis won the primary over a number of GOP opponents before defeating Democratic Party nominee Andrew Gillum.
Trump credits his endorsement with putting DeSantis over the finish line, saying, “He was failing badly in the polls. He was out of politics. He was going to be out of politics, and I endorsed him. And he went from a very small number to a very high number.”
DeSantis has been critical of the former president in recent days, as well.
DeSantis targets Trump's past praise of Fauci as issue to exploit in potential 2024 match up https://t.co/44Hmug93XH
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 26, 2023
Even if personal issues between the two potential opponents are patched over by the Republican National Convention next year, one major constitutional hurdle may ultimately nix the deal.
According to the 12th Amendment, members of the Electoral College cannot vote for both a vice president and a president from their own state. This means that the 30 electors from the Sunshine State could not vote for Trump as president and DeSantis as vice president in a hypothetical ticket.
The amendment reads in part, “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.”
Since either the president or vice president would be short more than 10% of the electors necessary for winning the White House, that could be enough of a concern that the idea of a Republican unity ticket may be off the table even before the first ballots are cast in the 2024 primary season.
