A spokeswoman for Donald Trump said that New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez was never considered as a potential vice president pick.
“I think it’s safe to say the governor was never on the VP short list,” Katrina Pierson said on CNN’s “New Day” Thursday morning.
Pierson was then asked why the presumed Republican presidential nominee would not consider Martinez “even though she is a popular Republican governor and a Latina woman.”
“Mr. Trump doesn’t work that way,” Pierson responded, adding, “And I’m really shocked that people are still surprised that he’s not looking at race and gender when he makes his decisions.
“He definitely is looking at individuals, a lot of people are being submitted. They are being vetted. And he wants the best person for the job. He doesn’t want to pick somebody just because of their race or gender,” Pierson concluded.
On Tuesday night, Trump took several shots at the governor at a campaign rally in Albuquerque, N.M.
Martinez, who has high favorability ratings in the state, has declined thus far to endorse Trump as the GOP nominee, as she had previously endorsed former candidate Marco Rubio.
In response to Trump’s comments on Tuesday, her office said she “will not be bullied” into supporting Trump.
Martinez’s name had been tossed around as a potential running mate for Trump as his rivals dropped their campaigns.
Ed Cox, the chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, for example, touted her in a radio interview last month.
Martinez is the first Latina governor in U.S. history, as well as New Mexico’s first female governor. She was first elected in 2010 and won re-election in 2014.
