Former President Donald Trump is holding off for a bit longer before announcing his pick for a running mate while President Joe Biden's struggles in last week's debate continue to grab headlines, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Trump weighed whether to make his announcement last week to distract Biden before the debate or to change the headlines had the debate not gone the former president's way. But with Biden having a bad night, the announcement has remained on hold, NBC News reported Tuesday.
"What’s the old adage? 'Never get in the way of your enemy while they are destroying themselves,' " a person said to be familiar with the situation told NBC News. "I think that applies here. It’s been Biden’s week for all the wrong reasons; let them keep it."
Trump has been saying he knows who his running mate is, but sources close to the process are saying the search is focused on North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and J.D. Vance of Ohio.
Trump has publicly said he wants to reveal his running mate at a date closer to the Republican National Convention, which opens July 15 in Milwaukee.
Other talks had focused on him making the announcement before his sentencing July 11 after being convicted by a New York jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
However, that date reportedly might also be pushed back after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said Tuesday it will not oppose a request from Trump to file a motion that argues his felony conviction should be tossed in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.
NBC News conceded that Trump could surprise everyone and make his announcement at any time, but a prominent GOP fundraiser said that it would not make sense for Trump to name his running mate before his sentencing in New York.
"If the debate went badly, sure, I think we would know, but with so much turmoil going on ... I don’t know why he would do it in the middle of all this," the fundraiser said.
"There is so much up in the air that there is no reason for them to act quickly after what happened in Atlanta [at the debate]. There could be someone else nominated by Democrats – how does that potentially change things? Waiting for now makes all the sense in the world."
Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita said on social media last week that the announcement could come any time before the convention.
Brian Hughes, another senior advisor, told NBC News in a statement that Trump's priority is to pick a strong leader who will be a "great president for eight years after his next four-year term concludes."
He added, "anyone telling you they know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying unless that person is named Donald J. Trump."