Donald Trump Reportedly Wanted Ivanka to Be His Vice President
People Think Melania Trump Gave Ivanka the Stink Eye at the RNC
A video of the moment is going viral.
There’s already an abundance of Trumps in the White House, but the president reportedly lobbied for a second one on his 2016 ticket: Ivanka Trump.
According to former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates’s new book, Wicked Game: An Insider’s Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed and America Lost, Donald Trump proposed that his eldest daughter run alongside him as vice president.
“During a VP discussion that included Jared and the other kids all assembled in one room, Trump said, ‘I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?’ Gates wrote. Met with silence, he continued, “‘She’s bright, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, and the people would love her!”’
Many potential running mates were floated, including Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions (whom Trump referred to as “Mr. Magoo”), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and, of course, Mike Pence.
Trump continued to advocate for Ivanka. “Trump said, ‘Look, I don’t like any of these people,’” Gates wrote. “Once again, he said, ‘I think it should be Ivanka.’”
Gates wrote that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort tested Ivanka as a running mate in internal campaign polls — an assertion that Trump 2020 campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh has denied. “She didn’t poll tremendously high, but higher than we expected,” Gates wrote, “and that only added to the seriousness of her consideration.”
DOMINIQUE JACOVIDES/AFP via Getty Images
By July of 2016 Gates said “the Ivanka idea started to catch some momentum,” but the first daughter herself shut it down. “She went to her father and said, ‘No, Dad. It’s not a good idea.’ And he capitulated.”
RELATED: Melania Trump's ″Harsh Comments" About Ivanka Trump Were Reportedly Caught on Tape
Trump was reportedly reluctant to add Pence to the ticket, as he’d previously termed the Indiana Governor “a loser,” but according to Gates he had a change of heart once he heard Pence disparage Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Gates was indicted in 2017 by special counsel Robert Mueller in regard to Russian interference with the election and Trump campaign. He became a witness and was sentenced to three years probation and 45 days of intermittent confinement for financial crimes committed alongside Manafort as well as lying to investigators.
Wicked Game: An Insider’s Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed and America Lost will be available Oct. 13.
