GOP Presidential Candidate Doug Burgum Says He Would Never Do Business With Donald Trump

Presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) said on Sunday that he would vote for Donald Trump to be president, but would never do business with him.

A businessman himself, Burgum negotiated a $1.1 billion deal with Microsoft that launched a small software company. When asked by Meet the Press host Chuck Todd if he would ever conduct business with Trump, Burgum said, “I don’t think so.”

“I just think that it’s important that you’re judged by the company you keep,” he explained.

He pedaled back on this statement when he said that he would do business with billionaire Elon Musk, who is highly controversial and often associated with the former president.

When asked what the difference was between Musk and Trump, Burgum answered, “Just look at business track records is what I would say, and that’s what I would take a peek at before I would make a decision about who to partner with.”

Despite his lack of confidence in Trump as a businessman, Burgum did say that he would vote for Trump in the upcoming 2024 election.

“I voted for him twice, and if he’s running against Biden I will absolutely vote for him again,” he asserted.

Burgum announced his own bid for the presidency in June. He has been focusing his campaign on policy issues, trying to stay out of the culture wars that other candidates have entangled themselves in.

“There’s a broad spectrum of Americans that are really frustrated with the discourse that’s happening at the edge,” said Burgum. “And part of the reason they’re frustrated is that there aren’t candidates, there aren’t choices on the ballot, to talk about the things that matter to them.”

Burgum is unlikely to be the Republican nominee, as he is not as widely known as other candidates such as Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida).