How Donald Trump Could Be Joe Biden’s Vice President
Okay, so you read the headline and now you're taking a look and you're expecting some kind of joke, silly explanation or a Rick Astley video. Nope. Sorry. That headline is absolutely, positively, 100% legitimate. And one more thing: It's also in the United States Constitution.
Admittedly, it's a bit far fetched, even unlikely. But we'll explain how, in a year so unusual nothing would be surprising, Donald Trump could actually end up as Joe Biden's Vice President.
So, let's start with this scenario. The Presidential election, still with no clear cut winner, ends up in a series of legal skirmishes in the most hotly contested states, Republicans versus Dems in court cases with no end in sight. Nossir...the Founding Fathers, in their infinite wisdom, did set a deadline.
From ncsl.org: "All state recounts and court contests over Presidential election results must be completed by December 8."
But what if they're not? Well, the old boys saw this one coming, too. The courts can't figure it out in a timely manner? Then it goes to the House of Representatives.
The Democrats control the House of Representatives. They did before November 3 and they will when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2021.
But a Dem majority in the House doesn't necessarily mean a Biden win, because Congressman won't cast ballots individually. State delegations, with each state's vote determined by the majority party of each state delegation do and each state gets one vote. For example, Louisiana has six members in the House. Five are Republicans, so Louisiana votes for Trump. California, on the other hand, has 52, 46 of whom are Democrats. So, Cali goes for Biden.
Now, in reality, Trump and the GOP would win this one. Republicans have 26 majority delegations, Democrats have 23 and one (Pennsylvania) is split. But for the sake of our imaginary tale, let's assume Dems hold the majority and, voila, President Joe Biden.
But what about the Veep? Kamala Harris, right? After all, she's Biden's running mate, his chosen ride-or-die, as the kids say. Once again, not so fast. Let's see what the Constitution has to say about this one.
The task of selecting a Biden running mate falls to the United States Senate, where the Republicans have - and most likely will still hold - the majority. Each of the 100 Senators would cast his or her own ballot for Vice President. And who might they select? A Republican party up-and-comer? Highly unlikely. Current VP Mike Pence? Possibly. But what if the Republicans wanted to pick someone who would be a constant thorn to the President, who would loudly and without refrain bang the drum of criticism, who could given his nature steal the thunder, not to mention the headlines, from any politician?
Well, hello Vice President Donald Trump!
That's how it could happen. How, Constitutionally, the current President of the United States could be the next Vice President...and a heartbeat from another go at the Oval Office.
Sure, it's unlikely. The odds may, in fact, be astronomical. But in this year, 2020, with everything that's happened, everything we've seen...would you really want to bet against it?