Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served under ex-President Donald Trump, was asked on Wednesday about potentially being chosen as Trump's running mate, saying he'd "be pretty inclined to go try and be a part of the team."
Trump became the presumptive Republican presidential candidate following a string of GOP primary victories on Super Tuesday, setting up a likely rerun of the 2020 contest against President Joe Biden.
Speculation over Trump's pick for a possible vice presidency has intensified in the last few weeks, with Trump having fallen out with his former vice president, Mike Pence, who said he would not endorse Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
When asked about his choice for a potential vice president at a Town Hall event on Fox News in January, Trump said, "I can't tell you that really, I mean, I know who it's going to be."
While speaking on The Guy Benson Show on Wednesday, Pompeo was asked if he would be open to being Trump's running mate. Pompeo replied in part, "If I got a chance to serve or the president wanted me to serve and I thought I could make a difference, I am almost certain that I would say yes to a request like that.
"If I thought I could literally help the president be successful in whatever role that might be, I'd be pretty inclined to go try and be part of the team to actually deliver good outcomes for the country," Pompeo said.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's campaign via email for additional comment late Thursday night.
BREAKING: We had the honor of just having fmr Secretary of State @mikepompeo on the show, and he said if offered the VP position, he would, "Be inclined to go and try and be a part of the team."
— The Guy Benson Show (@GuyBensonShow) March 28, 2024
Listen below and click the link for the full interview!
🎧: https://t.co/iDhZdsVprk pic.twitter.com/Rvt17mNSWL
The former president also spoke about his potential vice-presidential choice in February while speaking to Fox News host Laura Ingraham at a Town Hall in South Carolina. Trump said that Senator Tim Scott, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Representative Byron Donalds were all on his shortlist.
When asked specifically whether those six candidates were "on your shortlist," he replied: "They are ... honestly, all of those people are good. They're all good, they're all solid."
The most important benchmark a vice president pick should meet, Trump said, is "somebody that you think will be a good president."
"Because if something should happen, you have to have somebody that's going to be a great president," Trump continued before pointing to Scott and saying, "a lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there."
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