Another name not included in a previous report this week appears to be on former President Donald Trump’s vice-president shortlist.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is reportedly rising Trump’s search, though Cotton was not included in an ABC News report earlier this week that listed those who the Trump campaign reached out to for information.
The Washington Post reported that Cotton was one of the top candidates who had been asked to submit paperwork.
“Senator Cotton stands out among the other candidates as a battle-tested, serious-minded lawmaker with exceptional fundraising skills,” a source close to Trump told The Daily Wire. “He’s a fighter that would round out the ticket in a way that is most likely to secure a victory in November.”
The New York Times recently reported that Cotton has “unexpectedly emerged as a top contender” in Trump’s search, indicating that Trump believes experience and discipline will be crucial in regaining the White House.
The news emerges as Cotton has escalated his defense of the former president in recent interviews, notably during a Sunday NBC News interview where he vigorously defended Trump against the prosecutions he faces, his presidential record, numerous claims made by Trump, and the supporters who, according to many, have faced unfair prosecutions in relation to the January 6 riot.
The Times said that Trump has privately praised Cotton as “a reliable and effective communicator in cable news interviews,” a top-tier quality that Trump seeks in the people he surrounds himself with. The report stated that Trump has long admired Cotton for his military service and Ivy League education and had previously considered giving him a top administration position.
“The two men fostered a close relationship during their time in Washington. They worked closely on immigration issues and shared an affinity for the conservative populism fueling the Republican Party,” the report said. “Cotton’s presence on a presidential ticket could help reassure Republicans in the party’s dwindling traditional wing, particularly fellow foreign-policy hawks. Many of these Republicans remain undecided about a second term for Mr. Trump and might be put off by the selection of an inexperienced MAGA loyalist.”
The Daily Wire noted further:
In 2020, Cotton led the charge in raising awareness at the start of the coronavirus pandemic about a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan that had been conducting experiments on bats and that it was the likely source of the pandemic. Cotton was subsequently castigated by the media as it sought to cast his remarks as “fringe” conspiracy theories — even though many of the world’s leading scientists now believe that the pandemic originated from the Chinese lab.
Months later, as far-left extremists burned down cities and rioted across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd, Cotton penned a piece in The New York Times urging Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to stop the billions of dollars in damage that the Black Lives Matter and Antifa extremists caused and the thousands of law enforcement officers whom they attacked.
