The Washington Post is reporting that President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested in 2016 that his eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, serve as his running mate.
The Post cites excerpts from a new book, “Wicked Game: An Insider’s Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed, and America Lost,” from former 2016 deputy Trump campaign manager Rick Gates, which details conversations the president had with aides in June of 2016 about selecting a running mate following his victory in the Republican primary.
“I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?” Trump told his campaign staffers at a meeting about the VP search, according to Gates. “She’s bright, she’s beautiful, and the people would love her!”
The book, due next month, is the latest by an ex-aide to the president which casts a highly critical light on Trump’s first term in office. It is due out just weeks before the election.
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Gates, who plead guilty in February of 2018 to charges of conspiracy and lying to investigators, told the Post in an interview that he would accept a pardon from Trump were one to be offered.
“I mean, who wouldn’t?” he told the Post. “We have not made any overture…But if I were looking at this objectively, I would say that this started with political intention and that people were caught up in the inquiry in ways that they wouldn’t have been if the inquiry had been done more properly.”
The White House declined to comment on the reported efforts to consider Ivanka Trump for the vice presidential role.
