With such a big lead in the early polls, Donald Trump has been turning his attention to the general election already – even though we’re still almost six months away from the first state holding its primary election.
During a wide-ranging interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump even started talking about potential running mates.
Appearing on the “Sunday Morning Futures” program, Trump gave compliments to some of his fellow Republican presidential candidates, telling the show’s host, Maria Bartiromo, that some of them were very “talented” people.
He even hinted that he was thinking already about who his potential vice president might be. Bartiromo then asked if there was anyone who was running for president now that he might consider for that role.
Trump replied:
“Possibly. I think you have some good people on the stage. Actually, I think you have some very talented people. I’ve been impressed by some of them. Some of them I’m very friendly with.
“Actually, a number of them called me up not to ask for permission, but sort of to ask for permission, to say they’d like to do it. A number of the people up there – I’m not going to embarrass them by saying who – but no, I think you have good people. I think you have good potential Cabinet members to actually do that.”
One of those “good people” that Trump has been rumored to be considering for his running mate is South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. He has long been a Trump ally, and is the only black Republican in the Senate.
Bartiromo knows all this, of course, and asked Trump directly about the senator. He responded:
“I think he’s a very good guy, and we did opportunity zones together. It’s never been talked about. It’s one of the most successful economic development things ever done in this country. And Tim is very good.
“I could see Tim doing something with the administration, but he’s in right now campaigning … But, Tim is a talented guy, and you have other very talented people.”
For his part, Scott said as recently as last week that he wasn’t thinking about anything other than winning the Republican nomination for president. On Fox News last week, before Trump’s interview, he said:
“I did not enter this race to come in second place. Second place is the first loser.”
That being said, it’s unlikely that Scott will win the GOP nomination, and it’d also be unlikely that he’d turn down an appointment as Trump’s running mate – or another position within a potential Trump administration.
As recently as earlier in the spring, Trump had been rumored to be preferring to have a female running mate. If he decided to go that route, he certainly would have some solid choices, including his former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley – who is running for president right now – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Kari Lake, the former news anchor who narrowly lost the gubernatorial election in Arizona last year.
