Front-runner emerges in race to be Trump’s running mate as Biden prepares for biggest news conference of his career

Donald Trump is expected to announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week.

Speculation about who will get the nod to join the Republican Party ticket has been mounting for months.

He has narrowed his list of contenders to just a handful of party heavyweights.

But the betting odds in Las Vegas show that one man has the advantage.

Senator Marco Rubio was the slight +225 favorite at BetOnline through Tuesday.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance were each listed at +250.

But on Wednesday, Burgum took the lead at +150 odds, with Vance the second choice at +285.

President Joe Biden faced a flurry of questions during his meeting Wednesday with new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over George Clooney’s shocking op-ed calling for him to step aside.

Biden’s response to calls for his resignation in Congress was: “AFL-CIO. Go, go, go!” His response suggests he has more faith in the powerful union, which issued a statement saying it was in “strong solidarity” with him on July 3, following his debate fiasco.

The cacophony in the Oval Office came as reporters had their first sustained opportunity to ask Biden about the Hollywood star’s call for him to drop out of the race, just weeks after helping him raise nearly $30 million at a fundraiser in Los Angeles.

He is certain to face more questions on the matter when he holds what the White House is now calling a “big-name news conference” on Thursday at the NATO summit it is hosting in Washington.

“Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020. We need him to do it again in 2024,” Clooney said. wrote in his powerful op-ed in the New York Times.

George Stephanopoulos was reportedly threatened with being taken off the air if he did not clarify his position on Joe Biden’s ability to serve another four years.

The ABC anchor gave his frank assessment of the president’s performance in a brief interview when he was ambushed Tuesday.

The former Bill Clinton aide was asked on the street in Manhattan if Biden should resign and replied: “I don’t think he can serve four more years.”

Biden’s interview with the former White House press secretary on Friday followed a disastrous performance in the June 27 debate.