Posted on 06/27/2024 10:05:44 AM PDT by Kazan
I haven’t seen anyone asking serious questions about North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Instead, those in charge of vetting Donald Trump’s potential vice presidential pick seem to be relying on voters’ impressions of an affable Midwest guy. But some North Dakotans who know better can’t stand the thought of Bill Gates’ friend anywhere near the White House.
To be fair, Burgum, a top surrogate for Trump, has a super cool self-made-man story. Chimney sweep, bet the farm and won, worked his way up and became friends with his boss at Microsoft, sold his company for $1.1 billion and stayed on to help things along.
The problem is with the vetting.
It would be nice to have confidence that the vetting went beyond mere Wiki searches and phone calls to people who have been employed by the guy.
He seems folksy. Genuine. He wore jeans to his inauguration and emceed the event himself like a Ted Talk.
Burgum’s Record During Covid
But why doesn’t anyone ask how he really did in his state during Covid? South Dakota and Florida governors’ performances were certainly pored over, but Burgum gets a pass.
He financed and promoted a tracking app for North Dakotans with Covid. One month after the Covid panic hit the state, Burgum announced a partnership with the North Dakota Department of Health and an in-state developer known for creating the Bison Tracker app. He repeatedly pushed the people of his state to use Care19, an app that “more efficiently and effectively” identified people who might have been in contact with others who had tested positive.
I doubt President Trump would be thrilled by these surveillance efforts.
Burgum’s Lack of Endorsement
Burgum has always taken his own path. He’s definitely his own man. He poured copious amounts of dollars into the media in the state, twice crafting his narrative and building his brand, and it worked. When bombarded with his messaging, North Dakotans took a chance on him twice.
Burgum is about to complete his second two-year term and is eligible to run for a final term, but he announced early in the cycle he is not running again as governor.
Interestingly, he was never endorsed at a single North Dakota Republican convention. Few have asked why. He not once but twice completely skipped the regular process of being nominated by his party at the state convention, opting instead to leap right to the primary. This is seen as an affront to Republicans who believe attending a convention is their opportunity to vet their candidates in person. It’s the process as it is meant to be — and one could argue that by going right to the primary, you are signaling that money and advertising are more important than the constituents you serve.
Trump consistently gets over 60 percent of the vote in North Dakota. But, tellingly, Burgum was not chosen as the delegation chair from North Dakota for the Republican National Convention in July. It is longstanding tradition that with convention delegations, the highest-ranking Republican is the individual voted by the delegation to be the delegation chair and the one to have the honor of being the face of “roll call” for your state on television.
State convention voters not only relegated Burgum to alternate status and seating at the convention, but two U.S. senators and the state’s single congressman preceded him on the alternate list. He cannot be elected delegate chair by the delegation if he’s not a delegate.
Yes, a sitting governor and former presidential candidate is not elected as a delegate by his own party to the 2024 national convention — and there is only silence on the matter. This shows that Burgum is more popular with people who know little about him than the grassroots of the party in his home state.
Foreign Influence
One of the most troubling lapses of the vice presidential vetting process is Burgum’s allowing foreign influence in North Dakota.
Burgum was in favor of placing a Chinese-owned wet corn milling plant (Fufeng) just 12 miles away from a sensitive and strategically important North Dakota Air Force base in 2022.
Then he ran for president of the United States. He was all in for the economic development gains for the state until the political winds changed. Then he joined the citizens of Grand Forks and the rest of the state in calling for more vigilance at the local level.
He’s still all-in on the eminent-domain-for-private-gain scheme of piping other states’ carbon dioxide emissions deep into the North Dakota soil. We’re used to pipelines here, but CO2 at 2,183 psi in a 24-inch diameter pipe traveling 2,500 miles — built by a company new to such pipelines — is an asphyxiant of mammoth proportions, to say nothing of private property rights.
Economic opportunities appear to cloud his judgment on security and safety.
There are far more questions that need to be answered.
North Dakotans want people to make their own decisions, but we should do some on-the-ground investigation before jumping on the Burgum bandwagon.
Lori Hinz lives in North Dakota.
His VP will be someone who isn’t being mentioned by the media. I’ll suggest one name: Lee Zeldin.
Burgum was in favor of placing a Chinese-owned wet corn milling plant (Fufeng) just 12 miles away from a sensitive and strategically important North Dakota Air Force base in 2022.
Or this:
He’s still all-in on the eminent-domain-for-private-gain scheme of piping other states’ carbon dioxide emissions deep into the North Dakota soil. We’re used to pipelines here, but CO2 at 2,183 psi in a 24-inch diameter pipe traveling 2,500 miles — built by a company new to such pipelines — is an asphyxiant of mammoth proportions, to say nothing of private property rights.
Yes those sounds like problems.
I don’t know details of everyone’s public records so this should be explored. That’s all part of vetting.
No matter who Trump picks, some FRepers will have butthurt and the punditsphere will clutch pearls or rejoice, whichever gets them the most clicks.
After watching Tucker’s podcast interview with PBD, Tucker is the only person who understands what a dangerous situation we are in worldwide. Tucker should be VP.
“The female pit bull, Elise Stefanik, will be at the debate. She’s very loyal to Trump, from NY and chews dems to the bone. Also, very pro-Israel. The house would have to find someone to replace her though.”
Her district is solidly Republican. Which is by no means to suggest it is conservative. But no way should a Democrat win there, absent some highly unusual circumstances (like the ones which happened about 10 or 15 years ago).
Burghum is not exactly socially conservative either.
“I have a very conservative friend in ND and he told me about two years ago that, among other things, Burgum is a Globalist and not to be trusted. He said Burgum makes Mit Romney look like a rank amateur and he’s as slick as they come.”
Burgum is a flavorless milquetoast who brings ***NOTHING*** to the ticket. He is also anti-conservative and has routinely waged war against conservative members of the state legislature who resist the squishiness of Burgum and the majority. Burgum is a “fighter” only against those on the right, not the left.
Add those things to his existing roster of obvious issues which have been mentioned here.
It isn’t just that “oh noes heez not purrfekt!!!”
It’s that he is highly IMperfect and is a TERRIBLE choice.
Tucker likes to play it safe. His firing from FOX forced him to choose a side, but that’s not his nature. He spent the first 2 years following 2020 straddling the fence regarding outcome-altering election fraud.
Right on! Well put.
I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s no good and to be avoided in every way possible.
He would be a snake in the grass/mole as VP.
Who is PBD?
we need someone who can help secure a state we need to win.
Someone from Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, or Virginia preferably. But there needs to be solid polling saying adding them would shift the numbers in our favor in THAT particular state. I don’t care about nationally.
I’d really like to see Tucker get the VP slot he knows the issues and DC better than anyone and has a love and family history that loves the US. He had great parents that exposed him to a world of intellectual curiosity. With Isreal, Iran and China flexing we need super smart mind working together.
The Burgum-endorsed Lieutenant Governor lost her primary attempt to run for Governor. Doug is very slickly packaged, but I would not consider him especially conservative.
That Chinese farm deal was coming in under the radar until conservative citizens sounded the alarm. Additionally, he mishandled Covid from the get-go. Kristi Noem more or less embarassed him into relaxing the restrictions he had in place.
Sure glad this is coming to the forefront now. He is not the best choice for VP, IMHO.
Santorum.
I'm no Nate Silver, but I'm putting the probability of your post proving correct at 100%.
if polling shows he will move the numbers in Trumps favor, sure. I honestly don’t care about anything but winning, and we need to win one of those states. Pennsylvania being the easiest
Look at Nate Silver's prediction, while the electoral count looks nice, it is still 131 days until the election. The vote count is actually in favor of Biden. That means a few states on the fence. Trump needs someone that adds votes push up the count to secure more states.
That is why I and some others support Gabbard. She checks off a lot of boxes, is aligned with Trump, and would absolutely add votes--independents and democrats. No other VP candidate offers as much to help Trump beyond his base.
Tucker has issues in his past, might cheer the base but has zero leadership experience and would not add votes. He’d be a great spokesman for Trump, probably good elsewhere, but his strength is talking, not action. Tucker is a creature of the beltway.
I'd think Wisconsin would be the easiest one to win. There are stronger election integrity laws there if they are enforced.
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