Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) is being considered as a possible running mate for President Trump.
The Army veteran, who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars before becoming a rising star in Republican politics, had been seen as a leading contender for the vice presidential nomination since endorsing the former president in early January, two weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
However, rumors about the senator intensified in late May following a series of media reports that he was high on President Trump’s list of possible Republican vice presidential candidates.
“I speak with President Trump and his senior team fairly regularly about the campaign and I tell them we are doing everything we can to ensure the president’s success,” Cotton said in an interview with Fox News Digital last week.
Trump gives hint about running mate
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) listens as President Trump speaks during the introduction of the “American Immigration Reform for a Strong Economy Act” in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on August 2, 2017. (Zach Gibson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
However, Cotton stressed that “we have not yet discussed the choice of vice president.”
“I think only President Trump knows who is really on the shortlist and who he will choose. I’m confident that with the finest members of the Republican Party, they will make the right choice at the right time,” the senator added.
When asked if he would say yes if Trump offered him the vice presidential spot, Cotton replied, “I love my job as a United States Senator. It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the people of Arkansas and the nation, but of course, if the president of the United States asked me to serve in another role, that is something any patriot would have to seriously consider.”
Trump accelerates review of vice presidential nominee
Cotton, 47, has built a reputation as a hard-line conservative, pro-small-government Republican during his tenure in Congress.
“He’s eloquent, he’s smart, I think he really gets to the heart of the party,” longtime Republican strategist David Koch told Fox News when asked about Cotton’s political qualifications.
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton talks with activists during a Republican fundraiser on Aug. 16, 2022, in Rye, New Hampshire. (Fox News)
Koch, a veteran of several Republican presidential campaigns, added that Cotton is young and “gets the job done. He’s not a show horse, he’s a hard worker. He’s got a quick mind and will be a good debater.”
Koch pointed to Cotton’s military record and his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee, adding, “I think his credibility on foreign policy is very important.”
Among the potential drawbacks are the obvious ones: As a white man, Cotton would not bring much diversity to the national Republican field.
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Another problem is that he comes from a reliably Republican state, but he’s not the only vice presidential candidate from a state where Republicans dominate the political arena.
Cotton was interviewed by Fox News during a stop in New Hampshire supporting the campaign of former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who is the front-runner for this year’s Republican gubernatorial nomination to succeed retiring Gov. Chris Sununu.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) campaigned in Londonderry, New Hampshire on July 2 with former Senator Kelly Ayotte, the leading contender for New Hampshire’s Republican gubernatorial nomination. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Cotton is no stranger to New Hampshire, which held the first primary for the White House in a century.
The senator visited New Jersey twice in 2020 on behalf of then-President Trump’s reelection campaign and has visited the state frequently in 2021 and 2022 to campaign for Republican candidates running in the midterm elections and to explore a possible 2024 presidential run.
However, just days before the 2022 midterm elections, Cotton announced he would not run for president in 2024.
And in his first interview since announcing his decision to run, the senator emphasized why he didn’t run.
“The only thing I really considered was my family,” Cotton said at the time.
The senator and his wife, Anna, are the parents of two young boys.
“My sons are 7 and 5 years old — old enough to know and grieve the loss of their father, but not old enough to understand the purpose and why it was important and whether it was worth the sacrifice,” Cotton said at the time. “I’m confident that Republican voters will be able to find another candidate, but I know my sons are not going to find another father for the next two years.”
“Over the next two years, my 7-year-old son will learn how to hit a fastball and my 5-year-old son will learn how to read, and I want to be there to teach them both,” the senator added.
But Cotton did not rule out a future run for the White House.
Nearly two years later, Cotton reiterated that while the racial issues in the country had come to a close at that time, his wife and I had not necessarily made up our minds about presidential elections beyond 2028.
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