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By Rachel Dobkin
Weekend Reporter
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Former Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, predicted on Friday an excuse former President Donald Trump could use if he were to replace Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate.
Reports have emerged that Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, may regret picking Vance as his vice presidential candidate amid President Joe Biden dropping out of the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president in November's election.
Kinzinger, who served as an Illinois congressman from 2011 to 2023, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday evening: "There is a greater than nothing, but less than likely chance that Donald replaces @JDVance on the ticket. He will say 'the Dems did it so i can.'"
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Kinzinger was one of two Republicans to sit on the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. On that day, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., in a failed attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden's 2020 election victory. The riot erupted following claims from Trump that the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud. There is no evidence to support such claims. Kinzinger has emerged as a fierce critic of Trump and the current Republican Party, declaring the death of the GOP following this year's Republican National Convention (RNC).
Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, denied reports that Trump was second-guessing his choice of running mate.
"President Trump is thrilled with the choice he made with Senator Vance, and they are the perfect team to take back the White House. And any reporting to the contrary is nothing but ridiculous fake news from either nonexistent sources or individuals who have no idea what's going on," Cheung told Newsweek on Tuesday. "Meanwhile, Democrats are in complete disarray after their coup that forcibly removed Biden from the campaign, proving they are the real threats to democracy."
Meanwhile, the former president stood by Vance while appearing for a phone interview on Fox & Friends on Thursday. During the interview with Fox News' Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade and Lawrence Jones, Trump called the senator "fantastic" and said "it wouldn't have mattered" if Harris was tapped before he announced his running mate.
Newsweek reached out to Cheung and Vance's press office via email for comment on Saturday morning. It also reached out to Kinzinger via Instagram direct message for comment on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Vance is the first non-incumbent vice presidential nominee to have a net-negative favorable rating after a convention since 1980, poll numbers show. His rating was at -6 points after the convention, according to CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten.
"I have gone all the way back since 1980. He is the first guy, immediately following a convention—a VP pick—who actually had a net-negative favorable rating," Enten said on CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront on Tuesday night. "The average since 2000 is +19 points. JD Vance [is] making history in the completely wrong way."
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Could Trump Replace Vance?
If Trump did want to replace Vance, he'd have to do it soon.
Mitchell Brown, a political science professor at Auburn University, told Newsweek on Friday, "There's a clear deadline for filing to be on a ballot in each of the states." She said that as long as a new vice presidential candidate is picked before that deadline, Vance can be replaced.
However, it wouldn't be as simple as Trump just choosing a running mate the second time around.
Brown referenced the Republican National Committee's rules adopted in 2020 which state that a vacancy of the Republican presidential nominee or their running mate may be filled by the committee or the committee could reconvene its national convention to vote for a replacement.
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