A new book claims that President-elect Donald Trump was thinking of a different running mate before announcing Sen. J.D. Vance as his choice in the 2024 election.
Politico’s Alex Isenstadt’s upcoming book claims that Trump was looking to pick Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo to be his vice president before his aides convinced him otherwise. The new book, “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power,” claims Trump was “dead serious” about the choice, CNN reported.
Isenstadt wrote that Bartiromo was a “Trump favorite” after “numerous softball interviews with him over the years,” and her years-long support.
.@realDonaldTrump on @MorningsMaria TV @FoxBusiness #trump #DonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/hi664BQjDW
— Maria Bartiromo (@MariaBartiromo) January 25, 2016
Trump “was dead serious about Bartiromo and was making the case for her during the flight to Butler (Pennsylvania). She was great with the big-donor Wall Street types and she knew how to do TV, Trump told his team,” claims the book which will be released in March from Grand Central Publishing.
The incoming president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, reportedly quashed the move as members of the team said “(t)here “was no time to vet Bartiromo, as they had spent months doing with other candidates.”
The news anchor, author, and financial journalist shares an estimated net worth of “between $50 and $70 million” with her husband, Wall Street financier Jonathan Steinberg, according to TheStreet. The 57-year-old hosts “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business and “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” on the Fox News channel where she has staunchly defended Trump.
When asked for comment, Trump’s incoming White House communications director, Steven Cheung, did not directly speak about Bartirimo.
“Vice President-elect Vance was the perfect choice to be President Trump’s running mate. There is nobody who is a better and stronger defender of the America First agenda, and he will continue to be a leader of the movement for years to come,” he told CNN.
