Former GOP Presidential Candidate Carly Fiorina wouldn’t rule out being Ted Cruz’s Vice Presidential running mate if he gets the nomination, according to an exclusive interview she did on Election Central with Rita Cosby on WABC Radio.
When asked directly about the Cruz VP slot by Cosby, Fiorina said:
Well look, all of that talk is obviously very flattering and so I am flattered by it. But I think one of the problems with this election honestly has been that we are always jumping ahead. I mean here we are, no one would have predicted where we are right now. And I don’t think anyone can predict where this is going, and so what I’m focused on honestly, in the immediate term, is making sure that Ted Cruz, not Donald Trump is our nominee. Making sure that he goes into that convention in as strong a position as possible. So let’s just… uhh… I’m focused on getting him the nomination, let’s start with that.
“That’s not a no?” replied Cosby.
“I’ve learned in life, never say never about all kinds of things. I didn’t think I’d run for president either, but I did,” Carly responded.
Clearly, Fiorina isn’t saying no, which all but leaves the door wide open at this point in the view of some.
Fiorina also criticized frontrunner Donald Trump and his new campaign senior staffer/convention manager Paul Manafort, who recently said recruiting delegates now is meaningless. Fiorina also discussed events in Colorado this weekend and elsewhere.
The interview will air Sunday at 7PM on WABC Radio. Verbatims from the highlights are below with the exact time codes.
Fiorina said, “Donald Trump said the other day, ‘Well, I don’t care about the rules,’ and I guess he doesn’t and maybe neither does Paul Manafort. You know delegates is what elections are about actually. … I suspect Paul Manafort is saying this because the Trump team isn’t doing real well gaining delegates. And the Cruz team is doing exceptionally well gaining delegates, and all of that will matter when we get to the convention.” Fiorina added:
I think the reason very frankly that Donald Trump and his team are trying to create this illusion that delegates are somehow stealing the votes away from the people, is because Donald Trump isn’t doing well in the race for delegates, and so that’s what Donald Trump always does. He whines that it’s unfair. It’s not unfair. It’s just, he’s not doing real well there. And Ted Cruz continues to win the popular vote as he did in Wisconsin resoundingly, as he has in the previous four contests, and he’s doing very well with the delegate vote as well.
She went on to praise Ted Cruz both for the ground game he has put together and his knack for grassroots activism.
As for the upcoming primary in NY, Fiorina said, “I suspect that Ted Cruz will do better than the current polls suggest. That same thing happened in Wisconsin, you know Ted Cruz wasn’t supposed to win Wisconsin, and yet he campaigned hard, I was there with him as well as Scott Walker and others, and he made huge progress.” She also said Cruz will pick up delegates in NY.
While not ruling out that Cruz will get to 1,237 delegates before the convention, she did admit that it will be difficult, adding that that’s true for Trump, as well.
Said Fiorina on Cruz getting to the magic number, “It will be very tough, it’s not impossible, but it’s certainly difficult. It’s also now very tough for Donald Trump to reach the 1237, and so the probability at this point is that we go into a contested convention. There’s nothing undemocratic about that at all, it’s just we haven’t had one for thirty years or so.”
She also said she believes Cruz is the candidate that’s getting stronger, while Trump is weakening.
“Look, I said the week that Donald Trump announced his candidacy, he does not represent me and he does not represent my party. I continue to feel that way. And I think what those high unfavorables tell people is that the more they get to know Donald Trump, the less they like him. I said in one of the early debates, character is revealed over time and under pressure. And I think Donald Trump is being revealed. And I think for many people, not all, but for many people what is being revealed about Donald Trump is not something they like,” said Fiorina.
The Full audio is available here.