Regardless of the discordant noises from hard-core conservatives not reconciled to his emergence as the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump has begun an elaborate exercise to choose his vice-presidential running mate.
In a slew of media interviews, Trump has indicated he would go for “somebody with great political experience” and one with the potential to deal with Congress so as to get things moving faster on the legislative front.
While Trump himself said he doesn’t have a name in mind as yet, a host of names began doing the rounds at a frenetic pace, ranging from rivals who he knocked out in the primaries including John Kasich and Marco Rubio to several others, including South Carolina’s Indian-American Governor Nikki Haley.
Haley, however, promptly sought to scotch the speculation by putting out a statement, saying: “While I am flattered to be mentioned and proud of what that says about the great things going on in South Carolina, my plate is full and I am not interested in serving as vice president.”
Haley, who had first endorsed Marco Rubio and then Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination, said: “I have great respect for the will of the people, and as I have always said, I will support the Republican nominee for president.”
Trump himself said he will soon announce a committee to help select his running mate. The committee will include former presidential rival and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has already endorsed Trump.
Saying his vice-presidential pick would definitely be a Republican and “most likely” be an elected political figure, he told ABC News: “I think probably I would like to go with somebody with great political experience.”
“I would like to have somebody who would truly be good with respect to dealing with the Senate, dealing with Congress, getting legislation passed, working toward something where we’re not signing executive orders every three days like President Obama does,” he commented.