Editor’s note: This post has been updated with a response from Donald Trump.
During an interview with the Washington Post, No. 1 Donald Trump campaign surrogate Ben Carson accidentally confirmed the names on the presumptive nominee’s VP short-list — a list that includes former Alaska governor Sarah Palin:
Ben Carson says that Trump is considering Sarah Palin for Vice President. https://t.co/7RrA6qyJbz
— Steven Ginsberg (@stevenjay) May 15, 2016
Also on the list, according to Carson, are former rivals John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Chris Christie:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon turned presidential candidate turned unfiltered pitchman for Donald Trump and now part of the presumptive nominee’s vice presidential search committee, sat in the back of a Town Car with his wife, Candy, on his way to a televised interview. He had just explained to the reporter riding along that he wanted no role in a Trump administration when news arrived of a new pollnaming him as the best liked of a list of potential running mates.
“Who else was on the list?” he asked quietly, maintaining his usual inscrutable calm. The most favorably regarded contenders after himself, he was told, were John Kasich, Little Marco, Lyin’ Ted and Chris Christie.
“Those are all people on our list,” he said.
Trump did say last week that his shortlist was “5 or 6” people. Unless Carson is out of the loop, this looks like the group being vetted by the campaign:
Trump says he's culled VP shortlist to '5 or 6.' "I have a list of people that I would like" https://t.co/yyYfRUc6KA pic.twitter.com/JzAeZarFVy
— ABC News (@ABC) May 10, 2016
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But back to Sarah Palin for a second … really?
Is this real life? https://t.co/Gf5VkgW8c8
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) May 15, 2016
It's happening! https://t.co/j3Ap76yhsU
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) May 15, 2016
Going Rogue https://t.co/ljkhbobG5c
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) May 15, 2016
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/731828908946001920
Well, maybe a little surprised.
Update. Donald Trump tweeted Sunday night that the Washington Post report is incorrect:
The @washingtonpost report on potential VP candidates is wrong. Marco Rubio and most others mentioned are NOT under consideration.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2016
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