Doug Burgum Is Trump's VP Nominee!

Second banana.

The assassination attempt delayed his pick but I can clearly confirm that he had already made his pick.

The cat is out of the bag. Embattled former president Donald J. Trump picks North Dakota governor Doug Burgum as his running mate. 

All you need to do is type trumpburgum.com and it automatically goes to Trump 2024.

So as the Republican Party gathers in Milwaukee, Burgum and his wife are there.

The U.S. Secret Service will now protect him, his wife and family.

He is a two term Republican governor from North Dakota. He is relatively unknown.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris must not underestimate the two.

With the junk food media still obsessed with the noise calling for Biden to step down and the former president surviving an assassination attempt, the noise is more sympathetic towards Trump.

We will ignore the things he's done while he was president.

Notably his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Jan. 6 should be the reasons for him being unfit to be president. His old running mate Mike Pence had not endorsed him.

Pence might change his mind now that Trump picked Burgum.

The wealthy former software executive, now on a shortlist to be Donald Trump’s running mate, was laser-focused on priorities like strengthening the state’s economy and cutting taxes. He mostly steered clear of social issues that animated many fellow Republicans, and he sometimes pushed back on them.

In 2020, Burgum criticized an anti-LGBTQ resolution of the state GOP as “hurtful and divisive rhetoric.” He vetoed a 2021 measure to ban transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in public schools, saying it “would unnecessarily inject the state into a local issue by creating a ban with myriad unforeseen consequences.” In 2023, Burgum vetoed a bill he said would make teachers into “pronoun police.”

But as Burgum prepared a bid for the presidency that spring, he also signed a sheaf of bills that imposed restrictions on transgender people — including two that were nearly identical to the sports ban he vetoed in 2021. Another bill banned gender-affirming medical treatments for kids, and he signed a measure that had provisions nearly identical to parts of the pronoun bill he had vetoed earlier in 2023. Burgum also signed a book ban bill, though he did veto a second, further-reaching one. Opponents decried both bills for targeting LGBTQ themes.

While conservatives cheered, others close to Burgum — who applaud what they call his independent streak and inclusivity as a leader — said the 2023 bill signings were disappointing and marked a shift as the governor entered the national stage. Some saw Burgum’s willingness to support the measures as an attempt to gain traction among Republicans as he eyed a presidential campaign, or as a response to action in other GOP-led states.

State Rep. Emily O’Brien, a moderate Republican who opposed the bills but supported Burgum’s presidential bid, said it was shocking Burgum signed them because of his business mentality of “trying to move the needle” and improve government, not drive social issues.

“Social issues aren’t helping move the needle — economic development, quality of life ... in his words, ‘treating the taxpayers like customers,’” she said. “I think it’s, you know, that business-model mentality of ‘No matter who comes through the door, you treat them with respect.’”

Mike Pence 2.0.

Burgum, through a spokesman, declined an interview request for this story. He told The Bismarck Tribune after the 2023 session — Burgum’s last regular legislative session as governor — that with Republicans holding enough seats in the state Legislature to override his vetoes, he had to “pick his spots.” He also bemoaned the time and energy spent on social issues as “a missed opportunity.”

“I talk to real people, creating real jobs, building real companies and hiring people, and some of the things the Legislature is focused on is not what the citizens are focused on,” Burgum said.

Caedmon Marx, of Bismarck, repeatedly testified against the anti-trans bills when they were before the Legislature. Marx previously viewed Burgum as someone in the political middle, who had North Dakota’s best interests in mind.

“After last session, it was kind of someone with his own interests in mind and his own political gain,” said Marx, whose boyfriend, a transgender man, moved to Minnesota earlier this year due to the new laws.

Burgum, 67, grew up in tiny Arthur, North Dakota. After earning a master’s of business administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Burgum went on to lead Great Plains Software. In 2001, Microsoft acquired the company for $1.1 billion, and Burgum stayed on as a vice president until 2007. He’s led other companies in real estate development and venture capital.

When he launched his 2016 bid for governor, Burgum’s announcement — like other speeches he gives — felt like a TED Talk, complete with a slideshow and lacking a lectern. Burgum ran on a vision of “reinventing” government as the state faced a $1 billion revenue shortfall that drained reserves. He defeated North Dakota’s longtime attorney general in the GOP primary, a major upset.