Doug Burgum by Gage Skidmore / Flickr
CV NEWS FEED // Multiple conservatives voiced concerns over reports that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is one of the political figures the campaign of former President Donald Trump is considering for the role of vice presidential candidate.
Burgum’s critics have pointed to the governor’s decision in 2021 to veto a bill protecting women’s sports, as well as an interview from last year in which Burgum implied he would not do business with Trump.
“Did you guys know that [Burgum] vetoed the North Dakota women’s sports bill?” American Principles Project (APP) President Terry Schilling wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday.
Schilling added that, at the time, Burgum “was praised by the anti-Christian hate group, ‘Human Rights Campaign’ for vetoing the legislation.”
In April 2021, Burgum vetoed HB 1298, which would have prevented men from taking part in women’s sports competitions. The bill did not garner enough support in the state Senate to override Burgum’s veto.
As Schilling noted in his post, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an over-40-year-old LGBTQ activist group, subsequently put out a press release applauding Burgum’s decision.
The group’s then-President Alphonso David stated in the release:
Governor Burgum heard the loud voices of the general public including transgender people and their families, medical experts and the business and sports communities coming together to oppose anti-transgender legislation.
HRC was not the only pro-LGBTQ leftist group that praised the veto.
North Dakota American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Campaigns Director Libby Skarin said at the time that her organization was “thrilled with Gov. Burgum’s decision to veto this bill.”
>> RELATED: PRO-PARENT LAW GOES INTO EFFECT DESPITE ACLU’S EFFORTS <<
Two years later, Burgum reversed course and signed a pro-women’s sports bill. About two months later, he announced his long-shot campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Burgum suspended his presidential bid in December 2023 after it had failed to garner significant support. Just over a month later, he endorsed Trump’s campaign one day ahead of the Iowa Caucuses.
Also on Sunday, an X user posted a video clip of a 2023 interview Burgum gave to NBC’s Chuck Todd.
Todd – then the host of the long-running program “Meet the Press” – asked Burgum: “Would you ever do business with Donald Trump?”
“I don’t think so,” Burgum answered. “I just think that it’s important that you’re judged by the company you keep.”
Todd asked Burgum again if he would do business with Trump.
“No, I wouldn’t,” the governor affirmed.
Schilling responded to the resurfaced video: “Burgum should be disqualified after this and the women’s sports debacle.”
The Associated Press (AP) reported Monday that Trump “has narrowed his vice presidential shortlist to a handful of contenders as he prepares to announce his pick in the days before — or perhaps even at — next month’s Republican National Convention.”
Some reports indicate that Burgum is on that shortlist – along with former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-FL, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, and Sen. J.D. Vance, R-OH.
The AP noted: “Trump’s choice would likely become the immediate front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination four years from now if Trump were to win a second term, the constitutional limit.”
