When Sen. Bob Corker withdrew himself from consideration as Donald Trump’s running mate Wednesday, he floated an alternative: the presumptive nominee’s daughter.
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In an interview with The Washington Post, which first reported the news, Corker said that “there are people far more suited for being a candidate for vice president”. Corker is a technocratic, policy-oriented lawmaker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and an even-handed Republican who didn’t have a knee-jerk instinct to attack Democrats for the mere objective of scoring political points.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) had been rumored to be one of Donald Trump’s most viable choices for vice president.
As for whom Trump should select as his running mate now that he’s ruled himself out, Corker said the billionaire businessman should be looking for “someone who can help him with the House and Senate”. A former congressman, Mr. Pence met with Mr. Trump on Saturday. Joni Ernst, said that she, too, wasn’t interested in the job. “I was just down two weekends ago helping him out in his reelection for governor of Indiana”.
And Eric Trump when visiting Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” this morning said he’s more than open to the idea and judging from social media response had plenty of support.
Ernst, for her part, told Politico that she favors Pence, calling him “so well rounded” and “a great conservative”.
“I wasn’t going to say anything”.
Brig. Gen. Gary Pendleton, a member of the North Carolina House, told Bloomberg he hopes Trump recruits ex-presidential rival Marco Rubio “because he’s Hispanic and he’s from the south”. Marco Rubio of Florida said he was scheduled to preside over the Senate, but that others would benefit more anyway.
Corker is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Asked if he felt the need to hear what his party’s nominee had to say, Upton, who hasn’t endorsed Trump and isn’t planning to attend the convention, said about his own meeting, “This has been set up for some time”. “Actually, there are two of them that are under consideration”. It wasn’t enough for others, as lawmakers who have been wary of Trump’s incendiary comments and off-putting campaign style said they remain unconvinced.
“I’m not a Never Trump guy, I’ve said I want to get there”. Lee Zeldin R-N.Y., leaves a news conference at the Republican National Committee Headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 6, 2016, after telling reporters that, to him, it looks like Hillary Clinton got preferential treatment from the FBI in its investigation of the former secretary of state’s use of a private email server for government business.
Democrats are moving to find political advantage from Trump’s appearance.
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Corker’s decision to take himself out of the running comes the day after he spent the day with Trump and his family in NY and then joined Trump on the campaign trail in the swing state of North Carolina. “I am confident that Republicans will keep the IN governorship”, Thompson said.
