Republican front-runner Donald Trump has named Ohio Governor John Kasich and Florida Senator Marco Rubio as potential running mates in the race to November's presidential elections.
“Yes. I like Marco Rubio. Yeah. I could,” Trump said, referring to spots in his administration, in the interview with USA TODAY published on Monday.
“There are people I have in mind in terms of vice president. I just haven’t told anybody names ... I do like Marco. I do like Kasich ... I like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker actually in a lot of ways. I hit him very hard ... But I’ve always liked him. There are people I like, but I don’t think they like me because I have hit them hard.”
Of the three, Kasich is the only one still running, but he has no mathematical path to the nomination before the convention, Time magazine reported on Tuesday.
Trump had previously said he would like to select a Washington insider for vice president.
“I do want somebody that’s political, because I want to get lots of great legislation we all want passed,” Trump said in February. “We’re going to probably choose somebody that’s somewhat political.”
Walker said he laughed when he read Trump’s comments but would not rule out being Trump’s vice presidential pick when asked about it on Monday, the Wisconsin State-Journal reported.
“It’s kind of interesting to hear that after the things that were said about me a couple weeks ago,” Walker said, adding “It’s almost breathtaking that I was listed in the first place.”
During the interview, Trump said previous spats with other Republican candidates were part of the “the crazy business” of politics and said leaders who have been criticising him publicly have also been reaching out to be part of his team.