Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of profiles of potential running mates for presidential candidate Donald Trump on the 2024 Republican Party ticket.

A possible frontrunner on former President Trump’s running mate shortlist has a major “downside” that could make his potential selection a bad bet, multiple campaign and election experts told Fox News Digital.

The horse race among those hoping to be named Trump’s running mate continued this week. Those widely believed to be on the shortlist made the rounds on various media outlets and at events alongside the former president, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who some say lacks a “wow factor.”

“He’s not a known commodity. He’s not somebody that, I think, instinctively would fire up the base or fire up Republicans,” GOP strategist Dave Polyansky said, citing concerns over Burgum’s lack of name recognition despite running in the Republican presidential primaries last year.

TRUMP VEEP STAKES: THE PROS AND CONS OF SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. KRISTI NOEM

He argued that, although firing up the base wasn’t the main purpose in a choice for running mate, there was no “overwhelming cry” from Republicans across the country for Burgum to be the pick. 

“Again, that shouldn’t necessarily be a decider, but there’s no wow factor to him,” Polyansky said.

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove agreed Burgum’s name recognition was also a problem and that he’s “from a small, heavily Republican state” when the battle for the presidency could come down to who wins over voters in the battlegrounds of Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin.

Rove also predicted Burgum’s wealth could “make him a target for the left.”

WATCH:  POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK MAKES MAJOR PREDICTION ABOUT BLACK VOTERS AS BIDEN BLEEDS SUPPORT

Republican strategist Erin Perrine told Fox “the downsides to Burgum’s selection are not deeply controversial given other possible selections the former president could make” but agreed with Rove that Burgum hailing from a reliably red state with a small population wouldn’t impact the electoral map.

“Some might argue that other potential candidates could bring more expertise, higher visibility or diversity to the ticket, leading to doubts about Burgum’s suitability as a VP nominee,” she said. She added Burgum declaring last year he wouldn’t serve as Trump’s running mate, as well as the possibility he might face intensified media scrutiny regarding his absence from North Dakota over the past year, would likely complicate his selection.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum encourages voters to support Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump during a campaign rally in the basement ballroom of The Margate Resort Jan. 22, 2024, in Laconia, N.H. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“It doesn’t take much for the media to pounce, and campaigning as a sitting governor has proven difficult for others running for other offices before,” she said.

Others were more blunt when it came to the possibility of Burgum’s selection, including a source close to the Trump campaign who said there was “more downside than upside there,” citing the concerns over his name recognition and being from North Dakota.

“If I had to rank him, I’d put him in the top five, maybe five or six, but not any higher,” the source said.

GOP pollster Scott Rasmussen simply told Fox, “I see no reason why Gov. Burgum should even be in the discussion other than media speculation. The fact that Trump featured him at the recent rally is interesting, but I suspect the governor will play some other role in the campaign.”

Burgum, despite those concerns, does have a number of strong qualities experts said could provide a boost to Trump, including his record as the chief executive of a state and as a business leader.

TRUMP’S POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES TO COMPETE FOR APPROVAL AT MAJOR CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AS SPECULATION SWIRLS

Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, attends the annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner hosted by the Minnesota Republican Party May 17, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“Burgum is a successful two-term governor of a major energy- and agricultural-producing state who’s championed education reform, tax cuts and government reform,” Rove said. “He’s also built a tech company — Great Plains Software — in the Midwest heartland, which he sold to Microsoft, becoming a top executive with the company before entering politics.”

Polyansky said one of the most “compelling” reasons to have Burgum’s name on the ticket was because of his television presence.

“He’s proven himself over the last month to be a great, very agile and pretty effective communicator,” he said. “Burgum’s shown that he can do some good in terms of his ability to communicate and drive a message.”

Perrine said Burgum’s “no-drama, no-nonsense demeanor has boosted the economy and safety of North Dakota,” and that being a “businessman-turned-governor” was “a mirror to Trump that the former president would appreciate.” 

The source close to Trump’s campaign praised the governor as “a vote getter.”

“He’s a decent man,” the source said.

From left to right: House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. All have been floated as possible vice presidential running mates for former President Trump. (Getty Images)

A number of other big names have also been floated to join Trump on the Republican ticket, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Trump, who spent most of his week sitting on trial in a New York City courtroom while President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are free to hit the campaign trail, is still weighing his running mate options. He suggested last week he might even wait until the July Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to name his pick.

Fox News Digital has reached out to representatives of Burgum for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Eric Hovde has, from the looks of it, a pretty swell life.

The banking executive is a millionaire many times over. He owns an ocean-view mansion in Laguna Beach and was named by the Orange County Business Journal for three years running as one of the county’s most influential individuals.

Yet for more than a decade, Hovde, 60, has had a hankering to hold political office. Normally, this is where we’d insert the long litany of rich folk — Michael Huffington, Al Checchi, Meg Whitman among them — who’ve tried and face-planted in their bid to get elected statewide in California.

But Hovde isn’t running here: He’s the leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. It’s where Hovde was born and raised — though, save for an unsuccessful Senate run in 2012, he’s been pretty scarce there the past several years.

Hovde’s opponent is Democrat Tammy Baldwin, who’s running for a third term and starts as a favorite — though not an overwhelming one — to win reelection. In recent years, Wisconsin has replaced Florida as perhaps the most competitive swing state in America.

“We’re deeply polarized by party,” said Charles Franklin, a pollster at Wisconsin’s Marquette University, who notes several contests have been decided in the last decade by exceedingly close margins.

It’s vital for Democrats to hold onto Baldwin’s seat in November if they stand any chance of keeping their bare Senate majority. So naturally they’ve sought to turn Hovde’s California ties into a major campaign issue.

They’ve posted billboards and created a website linking Hovde, or, rather, “California bank owner Eric Hovde (R-Laguna Beach),” to a luxe life of champagne and pleasure. A TV spot — crashing surf, sparkling wine and, of course, palm trees — ends with a rhetorical question: “Eric Hovde on Wisconsin’s side? Don’t bank on it.”

That attempt at California-shaming amounts to a role reversal of sorts. Typically, it’s Republicans in red states like Texas who wield the Golden State as a weapon, turning Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi into demon figureheads.

However, it’s not the state’s left-leaning politicians that Democrats are trying to yoke around Hovde’s neck. Rather, they’re trying to raise doubts about his relatability.

“There are rich people in Wisconsin who have multiple homes, too,” said Lilly Goren, who teaches political science at Waukesha’s Carroll University. “But if you spend most of your time out in California where you don’t have to deal with snow and rain and sleet and it’s always sunny, we think you’re living a little bit of a different life.”

Hovde insists he’s a Wisconsinite down to the tips of his toes, which he sank not long ago into Madison’s frozen Lake Mendota. (Actually, he plunged in chest-deep.)

“So the Dems and Sen. Baldwin keep saying I’m not from Wisconsin, which is a complete joke,” a shirtless Hovde said, mid-dip, in a social media post that has been viewed more than 1 million times.

”!!Warning,” the post reads. “Not safe for Californians and career politicians!!”

Brrr.

In an interview last year with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, before Hovde launched his candidacy, he “guffawed with amusement” when asked if he was spending the bulk of his time in California or Wisconsin.

“I’m born in Wisconsin, raised in Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin,” Hovde told the newspaper. “My home is Wisconsin. I have a business in Wisconsin. So that’s my response.”

The business, Hovde Properties, is a Madison-based real estate company founded by his grandfather. Hovde is also chairman and CEO of Irvine-based H Bancorp and its chief subsidiary, Sunwest Bank.

Since entering the race, Hovde has adopted a nothing-to-see-here approach to questions about his residency — even as he immerses in ice water and exults over the “fantastic fun” of ax-throwing, another moment shared on social media, as a way of bolstering his Badger State bona fides.

Lately, however, the California question has been overshadowed by remarks Hovde made about older voters, who happen to make up a sizable chunk of Wisconsin’s electorate. (A quarter of residents are 60 or older; nearly 1 in 5 are 65 and up.)

Hinting at irregularities in the 2020 election — which seems to be the price of admission to the GOP these days — Hovde repeated bogus claims of widespread voting fraud at Wisconsin nursing homes. In doing so, he questioned the capacity of elderly residents to coherently cast their ballot.

“If you’re in a nursing home, you only have a five-, six-month life expectancy,” Hovde said in a talk-radio interview. “Almost nobody in a nursing home is at a point to vote.”

Which is one way to address the Democratic advantage among seniors — you could simply disenfranchise them — though, for the record, Hovde later clarified his statement by saying, “I think elderly absolutely should vote.”

Unfortunately for Hovde, even as he worked to clean up that political mess, Sunwest Bank was named as co-defendant in a wrongful-death lawsuit targeting a Southern California senior living facility that the bank partly owns. A Hovde spokesperson said neither the bank nor Hovde were involved in the facility’s day-to-day operations.

All in all, that’s made for pretty rough going for Hovde, though there is some consolation should his Senate bid fall short. He still has that mansion awaiting him back in Laguna Beach.

Happy to troll Hovde, Wisconsin’s Democratic Party rounded up cast members of the “Real Housewives of Orange County,” who sent their best wishes in a video and said they dearly miss their sometime-neighbor.

“Cannot wait, just like your friends, for you to come back,” said cast member Gina Kirschenheiter.

“Be back safe, enjoy your journey,” said Vicki Gunvalson, the self-proclaimed “OG of the OC.” Blowing a kiss, she added, “Don’t forget to whoop it while you’re in Wisconsin. Have some cheese curds.”

Which just goes to show, the stereotypes and trash-talking run both ways.

Former President Trump fired up supporters at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting in Texas on Saturday, calling for President Biden to take a “drug test,” putting “radical” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on blast and encouraging gun enthusiasts to get out and vote.

The crowd at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas roared as Trump received the NRA’s endorsement before he took the stage.

Trump thanked the “great patriots” for the endorsements, but reprimanded the “rebellious bunch” for not voting.

“But one thing I’ll say, and I say it as friends, we’ve got to get gun owners to vote because you know what? I don’t know what it is. Perhaps it’s a form of rebellion because you’re a rebellious people, aren’t you?,” Trump said. “But gun owners don’t vote. What is that all about?”

“If gun owners would vote, we would swamp them at levels that nobody’s ever seen before,” he said. “So, I think you’re a rebellious bunch. So let’s be rebellious and vote this time.”

BIDEN CAMPAIGN HIGH ON DOJ’S MARIJUANA SHIFT, ‘SMOKES’ TRUMP FOR INACTION DURING HIS TERM

The NRA endorsed former President Trump on Saturday. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

‘Radical’ RFK Jr.

Trump turned his attention to Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., telling NRA-supporters to not “waste your vote” and that he is a part of the “radical left.”

“RFK, Jr. — I call him Junior by the way — he’s radical left. Don’t think about it. Don’t waste your vote,” Trump said. “We need a conservative person with common sense. This guy is radical left who destroyed New York.”

“Actually, he’s a disaster. He reminds you of this fly that’s driving me crazy up here,” said Trump, who swatted at a fly that flitted around the stage. “This fly is brutal. I don’t like flies!”

Former President Donald Trump blasted Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a “disaster” and part of the “radical left.” (Getty Images)

Trump said that RFK Jr. had “no policy for anything.”

“But RFK Jr. calls you a terrorist group. You know, he calls you a terrorist group,” Trump said. “[You] can’t vote for him. You can’t. You know, somebody said, well, they like his policy on vaccines the other day. He said, no, no, he’ll go for the vaccine. He’s nice. He’s got no policy or anything. He’s radical left. He always has been.”

“We can’t waste any votes,” he added. “We have to make sure we win.”

Former President Trump said that President Biden was as “high as a kite” during his State of the Union address in March. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

‘High as a kite’

The Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee set his sights on President Biden, beginning with the usual jabs at Biden’s cognitive ability, and saying that Biden was as “high as a kite” during his State of the Union address in March. 

WARNING SIGNS FOR TRUMP, BIDEN, AS THEY CAREEN TOWARD DEBATES 

“Now, he did that State of the Union the other day. He was high as a kite,” Trump said. “So, I think we should go for drug tests on the debate. Yeah, we’re going to call for drug tests.”

Former President Trump speaks during the NRA ILA Leadership Forum at the National Rifle Association (NRA) Annual Meeting in Dallas on Saturday. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Earlier Saturday, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced the creation of a new “Gun Owners for Trump” coalition that includes gun rights activists and individuals in the firearms’ industry.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.