Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said Thursday she hasn’t been contacted about the vice presidential vetting process by anyone affiliated with Donald Trump’s campaign, despite rumors that she is being considered as possible running mate.
“Nobody has reached out to me, so I’m doubtful of that,” Ernst told reporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “I would have thought that if that was being considered, somebody would have reached out to me.”
“I think he must have his eyes set on somebody else, and that’s OK,” she added.
Ernst has declined to explicitly endorse Trump, instead saying she intends to support the Republican nominee. The Iraq war veteran previously said she is focused on serving her home state right now without fully closing the door on the possibility of running on the bottom of the GOP ticket.
The first-term senator has been floated as a wise vice presidential pick by her colleague, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, in addition to a handful of other conservative figures.
“She is a very well-respected person that I think can work with the other people in Congress, but she also has a background of having served in county government [and] having served in state government,” Branstad told the Des Moines Register last month.
He added, “So I think that if you want to put together an ideal profile of somebody who would be a great vice presidential candidate, she would be helpful to Republicans in Iowa, as well.”
The Trump campaign is working with the same attorney who vetted possible vice presidents for McCain in 2008 and the presumptive GOP nominee plans to announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention next month.
