INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Joni Ernst, Bob Corker Won’t Run With Donald Trump, Decline VP Nomination

By Ernie Howell
Published on: 17:42 PST, Jul 6, 2016

Joni Ernst and Bob Corker — two U.S. senators reportedly on a shortlist to be on the GOP ticket this fall — have both said they won’t run with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as his VP choice, multiple media outlets are reporting.

Joni Ernst was first to announce she won’t run with Donald Trump as his VP selection on Wednesday, according to a local Iowan television station. Joni Ernst confirmed the news that was first published by Politico, saying she would bow out of the VP race to provide help to her party as a member of Congress.

“I made that very clear to him that I’m focused on Iowa. I feel that I have a lot more to do in the United States Senate. And Iowa is where my heart is. I’m just getting started here. I have a great partner with Chuck Grassley, we’ve been able to accomplish a lot. And I think that President Trump will need some great assistance in the United States Senate and I can provide that.”

Joni Ernst also explained that she was not vetted for the VP role. Yet Joni Ernst is expected to continue campaigning for Donald Trump, she explained.

“I will probably participate more as an advocate. I would love to assist him out on the trail.”

Despite saying she won’t run with Donald Trump, the 46-year-old first-term Senator will land a coveted speaking role at the Republican National Convention, The Des Moines Register reported. A retired colonel in the National Guard, Joni Ernst will focus the content of her speech on national security, according to the report.

In landing a prime time slot at the Republican National Convention, Joni Ernst becomes the first Iowan to deliver such a speech since 2000. Joni Ernst has experience with making speeches with the nation watching as evidenced by delivering her party’s rebuttal to President Barack Obama’ State of the Union address in 2015.

Like Joni Ernst, Tennessee U.S. Senator Bob Corker has announced he won’t run with Donald Trump as the Republican VP selection. In an interview Wednesday, Bob Corker told The Tennessean that he withdrew from consideration because the VP role was more politics than policy.

“I feel like there are people better suited for that role, and I’m better suited for other kinds of roles. When it comes to being a vice president, it’s a highly, highly political role. I view myself as sort of a policy person.”

Even as Bob Corker announced he won’t run with Donald Trump, speculation immediately ignited that the 63-year-old would offer his services as a part of a Trump administration. A logical choice for the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would be the Secretary of State position. Like the VP role, Bob Corker declined to stump for any particular role should Donald Trump win the presidency.

“If the president calls you to serve, certainly it’s your responsibility to sit down and strongly consider that. But to try to respond to conjecture (about a specific position) at this point is just not appropriate.”

Bob Corker admitted he had already undergone a preliminary vetting process while contemplating the VP position. Although Bob Corker won’t run with Donald Trump, the former Chattanooga mayor will also be offered a speaking role at the Republican National Convention this summer.

Both Bob Corker and Joni Ernst have been mentioned several times as being a part of a VP shortlist for Donald Trump. Several times during the campaign, both Bob Corker and Joni Ernst were thought to be the front-runners to earn the VP selection, according to the Inquisitr.

What do you think about both Joni Ernst and Bob Corker bowing out of the VP selection process by saying they won’t run with Donald Trump? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[Photos by Kris Connor & Sara D. Davis/Getty Images]

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